TRANSPORT, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND THE REGIONS

Fire Brigade, East Sussex

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will increase East Sussex Fire Brigade's SSA budget in 2002 in order to help meet the demands placed on the brigade as a result of last year's flooding.

Alan Whitehead: Under the provisional local government finance settlement announced on 4 December, the fire standard spending assessment for the constituent local authorities of East Sussex Fire Authority will be increased by 4 per cent. from £21.646 million to £22.503 million for 2002–03. The figure has been calculated using the funding distribution formula that applies in respect of all fire authorities in England.

House Sales

David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many private homes were sold in each of the last five years, broken down by region.

Sally Keeble: According to HM Land Registry, the number of private homes sold in each of the last five years was as follows:
	
		Number of private homes sold in England, 1996–2000
		
			 Region 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 
		
		
			 North East 36,362 42,805 43,070 45,351 47,787 
			 North West 107,121 124,420 124,314 135,235 139,192 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 81,043 92,959 90,794 100,401 102,377 
			 East Midlands 76,358 89,308 88,009 98,771 97,622 
			 West Midlands 84,561 97,957 93,249 105,530 102,041 
			 East 115,377 134,598 128,142 147,500 131,549 
			 London 138,336 163,800 154,055 176,843 156,044 
			 South East 160,247 208,967 195,148 220,832 193,964 
			 South West 106,955 128,897 122,299 140,044 124,908 
			 England 906,360 1,083,711 1,039,080 1,170,507 1,095,484

Railtrack

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the elements of the £3.5 billion needed by Railtrack plc in administration, including that sum which was due to be paid to the company by the Government over that period under previous agreements.

Stephen Byers: The sum of £3.5 billion is the Administrator's current estimate of the maximum that would probably be required to meet pre-administration debts to 31 March 2002, including allowances for contingencies.
	The figures are made up as follows:
	
		
			  £000 
		
		
			 Pre-administration trade creditors 1,673,498 
			 Finance parties principal, interest and lease payments 624,084 
			 Working capital 811,000 
			 General contingency 170,000 
			 Insurance premium 9,000 
			 Estimated value of subsidiary companies 31,500 
			 Provision for utility companies 79,000 
			 Losses on close-out of interest rates SWAPS 118,000 
			 Purchase of Rail Grinding train 5,000 
			 Professional fees 50,000 
			  
			 Maximum total estimated funding required to 31 March 2002 3,571,082 
		
	
	The Government have paid Railtrack all the moneys that were legally due to the company, and these are being used to meet day-to-day running costs.

Railtrack

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list (a) track, (b) signals and (c) other infrastructure, operated as part of the London Underground, which is (i) owned by Railtrack and (ii) used by mainline train operating companies; and if he will place in the Library (A) contract and (B) other documentation associated with the use and maintenance of such infrastructure.

Stephen Byers: holding answer 4 December 2001
	This is a matter for Railtrack and London Underground. All track, station and other infrastructure related agreements are commercially confidential between the parties and it would therefore be inappropriate to place them in the Library.

Railtrack

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when the supplementary note to the original notes of his meeting with John Robinson, as sent to the Transport Sub- Committee, was drafted.

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions on what date the supplementary note to the official minute of his meeting with the chairman of Railtrack on 25 July was (a) drafted, (b) circulated for comments and (c) agreed by him.

Stephen Byers: The information requested is exempt from disclosure under Section 2 of Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Railtrack

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions which (a) officials and (b) special advisers in his Department were consulted on the content of the supplementary note to the official minute of his meeting with the Chairman of Railtrack on 25 July.

Stephen Byers: holding answer 4 December 2001
	The information requested is exempt from disclosure under Section 2 of Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Bus Operators (Fuel Duty)

Huw Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the criteria are for paying fuel duty rebate to bus operators providing scheduled services; and in what circumstances it can be withheld.

Sally Keeble: To be eligible for the receipt of this rebate a bus service must be registered with the Traffic Commissioner as a local service. It must also meet a number of other strict criteria to ensure that it is a service available to the general public and that it stops at registered stopping places.
	The payment of rebate can be withheld if there is doubt that these conditions have been met or about the amount of entitlement. Examples of the latter are where an operator's estimates of FDR eligible mileage or fuel consumption appear unreasonably high in view of the operator's performance in recent years, where an operator consistently over estimates, where an operator fails to submit a certified claim form within the time allowed and if an operator fails to maintain adequate daily records of mileage run and fuel consumption.

Housing (Isle of Sheppey)

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what recent infrastructure analysis has taken place of (a) general practitioners, (b) police, (c) school places and (d) public transport on the Isle of Sheppey with regard to new build housing schemes.

Sally Keeble: The assessment of the need for local facilities is a matter for the local planning authority and the service providers. The Government's policies in Planning Policy Guidance note 3: Housing seek to create a more sustainable pattern of housing development and deliver accessibility to transport, health, education and other facilities. It is for the county and district councils to consider these issues and work with service providers when drawing up the development plan. The availability of services should also be taken into account when considering individual proposals for housing schemes.
	The Government have already announced the new bridge across the Swale making the Isle of Sheppey more accessible. We are also investing £5 million, through the Sure Start scheme, to help children in two of the most deprived areas on the Island.

On-Shore Windfarms

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what steps the Government have taken to reduce the delays in planning decisions concerning on-shore windfarms.

Sally Keeble: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave her on 21 November 2001, Official Report, columns 285W-86W.

Housing

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answers of 29 October 2001, Official Report, column 479W on housing, and of 13 November 2001, Official Report, column 611W, on affordable housing, on what basis he stated that Chorley borough council considered Eaves Green unsuitable for affordable housing.

Sally Keeble: holding answer 4 December 2001
	This information was based on Chorley borough council's local plan, review (revised deposit edition, September 2000). Under policy HS5 this edition considered sites suitable for affordable housing. The Eaves Green site was excluded.

Track Lines

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions for what reasons the SRA have stopped publishing punctuality figures for track lines.

David Jamieson: The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) continue to publish detailed public performance measurement data quarterly; in their twice-yearly "OnTrack" publication, and on two other occasions to coincide with their quarterly "National Rail Trends" publication.

M4

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions on what reasons he based his decision that it would be inappropriate to widen the M4 between junctions 3 and 4b; for what additional external factors he took into account other than the recommendation of the Planning Inspector set out in paragraph 87 of the summary of the inspector's report on Heathrow Terminal 5; and if he will make a statement.

Sally Keeble: holding answer 4 December 2001
	The Secretary of State's decision to approve the development of Terminal 5 and the reasons for it are set out in full in his decision letter dated 20 November 2001. Paragraphs 56 and 57 of that decision letter deal with the inspector's conclusions and recommendation in respect of the M4 widening and the reasons for the Secretary of State's agreement that the draft scheme and orders relating to the M4 widening should not be made. I cannot add anything to what is said in the decision letter.

Electoral Pilots

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions whether local authorities applying to run electoral pilot schemes in the May 2002 elections will be required to demonstrate how their schemes will be accessible to (a) visually impaired and (b) other disabled people before receiving approval.

Alan Whitehead: holding answer 5 December 2001
	Enabling greater access for sections of the community currently less likely to vote is one of the criteria for selecting local authorities to pilot electoral innovations in the May 2002 local elections. Local authorities will be expected to demonstrate how their proposed pilot meet this criterion, including in the case of people with a visual impairment or other disability, as part of the selection process.

Electoral Pilots

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions whether his Department intends to initiate discussions with disability organisations over the accessibility of electoral pilot schemes for the May 2002 local elections to (a) visually impaired and (b) other disabled people.

Alan Whitehead: holding answer 5 December 2001
	My officials, together with representatives of the Electoral Commission, are meeting RNIB and SCOPE early in the new year to discuss, among other things, progress with the 2002 local election pilots.

Electoral Pilots

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions whether the e-voting equipment to be procured by his Department for the electoral pilots in the May 2002 local elections will include an (a) screen magnification software, (b) screen reader software, (c) Braille displays and (d) other adaptive technology for visually impaired people.

Alan Whitehead: holding answer 5 December 2001
	Enabling greater access for sections of the electorate less likely to vote is one of the criteria for selecting e-voting pilots for the May 2002 local elections. Local authorities and suppliers chosen as pilots will be expected to show how they meet this criterion. At this stage the Government do not want to anticipate the outcome of these pilots about the best technology to help people with a visual impairment, but technologies such as screen magnification software and Braille displays could well feature in proposals put forward by local authorities and suppliers.

Strategic Rail Authority

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make statement on the SRA's responsibility for providing electrical power.

David Jamieson: Railtrack together with the electricity generating industry are responsible for the supply of electrical power to railways. The Strategic Rail Authority has a primary role in evaluating the case for new investment in railways which may include the choice of motive power.

London Underground

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the London Underground activities for which he is responsible; what responsibility he has for London Underground's advertising; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: Responsibility for the activities of London Underground Ltd., as a subsidiary of London Regional Transport (LRT), lies with the board of LRT. London Underground's activities support those of LRT, whose general duty is to provide or secure the provision for Greater London of public passenger transport services by railway in accordance with principles approved by the Secretary of State.
	The responsibilities of the Secretary of State under the LRT Act 1984 are limited. He has powers designed for specific purposes such as issuing approvals, consents, determinations and directions to LRT. He does not have power to direct LRT's day to day business.
	The Secretary of State has no responsibility for London Underground's own advertising.

London Underground

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment his Department has made of the Deloitte and Touche report on the PPP for the London Underground's commentary on the concept of reputational externalities; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for North Essex (Mr. Jenkin) on 10 May 2001, Official Report, column 255W. Deloitte and Touche's report is a matter for Deloitte and Touche.

London Underground

Richard Page: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions 
	(1)  what maintenance teams London Underground has dedicated to working around the clock to clean (a) buildings and (b) trains affected by graffiti; and how many staff are employed to perform these functions;
	(2)  when (a) he and (b) one of his ministerial colleagues last met a mystery shopper employed to survey the environmental state of London Underground's stations and trains; and whether (i) he and (ii) they have ever accompanied such a person while performing their duties under the normal conditions experienced by those who commute to London;
	(3)  what conclusions he and his ministerial colleagues have drawn from the conference held last March with experts from New York and with officials from the Home Office on tackling graffiti on the London Underground;
	(4)  what recent discussions he has had with Transport for London about graffiti on the underground;
	(5)  whether he expects Mr. Bratton to pursue a zero tolerance policy on graffiti on the London Underground;
	(6)  if it is possible to measure accurately changes in the level of recorded litter at London Underground's stations and to include the weighted results of surveys by mystery shoppers in the public-private partnership contracts;
	(7)  how many representations he has received from the Greater London Assembly, from London boroughs and other organisations since June on the need to tackle graffiti on the London Underground; and if he will allow local authorities to remove graffiti from London Underground's buildings and then to recover the costs from London Underground;
	(8)  what formal qualifications are required for appointment as a mystery shopper employed to survey the ambience of London Underground's environment;
	(9)  how those mystery shoppers appointed to undertake periodic surveys of graffiti at London Underground stations measure its level;
	(10)  how many high-pressure (a) jet washers and (b) gritting devices London Underground possesses for cleaning graffiti from bridges and brick walls at its stations; and what use has been made of them in the last three years for which figures are available;
	(11)  if he will list the criteria used by the mystery shoppers employed to survey the levels of graffiti and litter at London Underground stations; and how their findings are weighted in order to calculate the quarterly average score for ambience at particular stations;
	(12)  how often London Underground's stations and trains are subjected to environmental surveys by mystery shoppers; and whether these surveys are checked simultaneously.

David Jamieson: The management of litter and graffiti and the conduct of the mystery shopper survey are operational matters for London Underground (LU). I understand from LU, that they have contracted NOP, an independent market research agency to conduct the mystery shopper survey on their behalf for the next couple of years. The results of the survey are collected and reported every three months. Under LU's tube modernisation plans, one of the factors which will determine the level of payments to the infrastructure companies will be their performance in keeping stations and trains clean.

Underground Environment

Richard Page: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 27 November 2001, Official Report, column 750W, on the underground environment, if he will list the equipment used to measure the factors to make up the values of QUTAS j and QUTAS k; and which factors will be the product of human judgment.

David Jamieson: This is a matter for London Underground. I understand that QATAS j and QATAS k represent scores for different aspects of the passenger environment on the underground. The attributes included in QATAS j are measured by Mystery Shopper Surveys. The attributes included in QATAS k include public address audibility, ride quality, in-car noise, train lighting and in-car heating and ventilation. London Underground intends that these should be measured by physical tests, using the appropriate equipment for measuring these attributes. Initially, however, they too will be tested using mystery shopping techniques.

Underground Environment

Richard Page: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 27 November 2001, Official Report, column 750W, on the underground environment, what are the (a) values and (b) limits of the letters applied to the weights which are in turn applied to London Underground to calculate a weighted average.

David Jamieson: This is a matter for London Underground. The letters referred to represent different attributes of the passenger environment of the underground. Where these attributes are measured by Mystery Shopper Surveys then they are scored out of 10. Where they are measured by physical tests, the attributes are given a score between 0 and 100. The weights applied to these attributes are calculated by London Underground according to the importance given by passengers to the attribute and the station or train on which the attribute is being measured. A higher weight is given to busier stations and trains on more heavily used lines.

Electric Train Units

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list by region for each of the next 10 years the planned change in electrical power available to power electric train units.

David Jamieson: No specific figures are available. This will depend on progress with development of infrastructure within the 10 year plan.

Electric Train Units

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he list by region for each of the last 10 years the electrical power available to power electric train units.

David Jamieson: This information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Rate Relief (Village Businesses)

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2001, Official Report, columns 1094–95W, on rate relief (village businesses), what was the (a) total number and (b) proportion of sole village pubs and petrol stations of a rateable value of £9,000 or less that have received rate relief since April,
	(2)  pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2001, Official Report, columns 1094–95W, on rate relief (village businesses), what is the (a) total number and (b) proportion of food shops with a rateable value under £6,000 in designated villages of less than 3,000 population.

Alan Whitehead: These figures are not kept centrally.

Rough Sleepers

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions on what date the most recent head count of rough sleepers took place; and what requests were made by her Department to shelter providers to extend the nights in shelter over the period of the head count.

Sally Keeble: The street count figures were placed in the Library of the House on 3 December 2001 and show the dates that street counts took place. Local authorities in partnership with local charities organised the latest round of street counts in England, which took place from 19 September 2001 to 29 November 2001.
	The results announced on 3 December confirm the success of the Government's strategy in reducing rough sleeping by more than two-thirds ahead of time.
	Outreach sessions occur every night including nights when there is a count, and it is never the intention at any time to move a person off the streets for only a single night.
	Organisations were not asked by the RSU to keep clients in for an extra night purely for the purpose of keeping them off the streets on the night of the counts.

Pensions (Fire Authorities)

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what consideration he has given to the future pension costs of English fire authorities; if he will list the total costs for the three financial years up to 2000–01; and what he estimates those costs to be in each of the three succeeding years.

Alan Whitehead: Total net expenditure under the firefighters' pension scheme is as follows:
	
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 1998–99 214.5 
			 1999–2000 221.6 
			 2000–01 (1)249.9 
		
	
	(1) Provisional
	In its report for the period 2001–02 to 2003–04 the local authorities' Fire Service Expenditure Forecasting Group provided the following estimates of pensions expenditure under the Central/local Partnership process.
	
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 2001–02 275 
			 2002–03 302 
			 2003–04 332

Local Authority Assets

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions 
	(1)  if he will list those local authorities that have failed to sell assets at best value within the last 10 years; and what discussions his Department and its predecessor have had with them on this subject;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with (a) the Local Government Association and (b) its predecessors on selling assets for best value; and if he will make a statement.

Sally Keeble: The Department does not maintain a central record of those local authorities that have sold assets at less than the best consideration reasonably obtainable. Local authorities do, however, have discretionary powers under Part VII of the Local Government Act 1972 to dispose of land at an undervalue with the Secretary of State's consent. The Secretary of State has issued general consents for particular classes of disposals of land, for less than the best consideration that can reasonably be obtained, without needing specific ministerial consent.
	The Department issued revised general disposal consents in December 1998 following consultation with interested bodies including the Local Government Association.
	This consent regime is one of a number under review with a view to abolition. The Secretary of State has had several discussions with the Local Government Association in central/local partnership meetings about the review in the context of broader deregulation.

National Association of Local Councils

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what discussions he has had with the National Association of Local Councils on the subject of developing partnerships; and whether this includes new funding arrangements.

Alan Whitehead: My Department works closely with the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) on a number of issues including: best value, quality parishes, accounting and audit regulations and a national training strategy for town and parish councils.
	Discussions have covered financial assistance for NALC, such as the recent research project on the development of Performance Indicators for town and parish councils.

National Association of Local Councils

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what discussions he has had with the National Association of Local Councils on the question of restoring a share of the uniform business rate to (a) parish and (b) town councils.

Alan Whitehead: We have had no discussions with the National Association of Local Councils on this issue. Parish and town councils have never had a share of the revenue from the national non-domestic rate—or uniform business rate—since its introduction in 1990. Their main source of funding is the council tax.

Amateur Sports Clubs

John Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what financial help his Department is giving to local authorities who grant (a) mandatory and (b) discretionary rate relief to community and amateur sports clubs.

Alan Whitehead: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport announced on 30 November 2001 Official Report, column 1150W, that Community Amateur Sports Clubs may now apply for charitable status. The Charity Commission has said that they will now recognise the following activities as charitable purposes: the promotion of community participation in healthy recreation by the provision of facilities for the playing of a particular sport; and the advancement of the physical education of young people not undergoing formal education. Those community sports clubs which meet the criteria for charitable status can benefit from mandatory rate relief of 80 per cent., which is already available for all premises used wholly or mainly for charitable purposes and is fully funded by central Government. Local authorities have discretion to increase the amount of rate relief to 100 per cent. in these cases, with central Government meeting 25 per cent. of the cost of this element of rate relief.
	Local authorities also have discretion to give rate relief of up to 100 per cent. to other non-profit making bodies, including community amateur sports clubs whose activities are not regarded as charitable. Central Government contribute 75 per cent. of the cost of rate relief in these cases. To qualify, the organisation must be philanthropic, religious, or concerned with education, social welfare, science, literature or the fine arts, or the property must be occupied by a non-profit making body and wholly or mainly used for the purpose of recreation.

Galileo Global Satellite

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement about the UK's membership of the Galileo global satellite navigation system.

David Jamieson: The Galileo global satellite navigation system is a joint initiative by the European Community and the European Space Agency and the UK participates through its membership of both organisations. But the UK has a number of concerns about the project, including its costs and how these could be funded through a viable public-private partnership, and the benefits that the system would provide to users. A study by PricewaterhouseCoopers on behalf of the European Commission published only on 22 November reinforces these concerns.
	The Transport Council at its meeting on 7 December is scheduled to consider the release of Community funds and the establishment of a Joint Undertaking to manage and procure the development and validation phase of Galileo. We will seek a deferment of the decisions on the basis that further work as highlighted by the study should be carried out.

Night Flights

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will ask the Civil Aviation Authority whether there has been an increase in (a) air traffic using and (b) night flights in the corridor four miles either side of Detling Beacon in Kent since 11 September.

David Jamieson: The Civil Aviation Authority has advised that it is not aware of any increase in either air traffic users or night flights in the corridor four miles either side of the Detling Beacon since 11 September.

Unitary Authorities

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many local councillors there are in each unitary authority with a population of less than 100,000.

Alan Whitehead: There are two unitary authorities in England with an estimated population of less than 100,000—Rutland and Hartlepool with 20 and 47 councillors respectively.

Unitary Authorities

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what is the applicable community charge or council tax charged by each unitary authority with a population of less than 100,000 (i) in the year immediately preceding their creation and (ii) in the following year.

Alan Whitehead: The information is given in the tables.
	
		Hartlepool borough council—unitary status created April 1996
		
			  1995–96 1996–97  
			  Average band D council tax:  
			  The year before creation (£) The following year (£) Percentage change 
		
		
			 Hartlepool(2) 155 791 — 
			 Cleveland county council 558 — — 
			 Cleveland police authority 45 46 — 
			  
			 Total area council tax(3) 759 837 10.3 
		
	
	
		Rutland county council—unitary status created April 1997
		
			  1996–97 1997–98  
			  Average band D council tax:  
			  The year before creation The following year Percentage change 
		
		
			 Rutland(2) 103 741 — 
			 Leicestershire county council 483 — — 
			 Leicestershire police authority 45 52 — 
			  
			 Total area council tax(3) 632 793 25.5 
		
	
	(2) Figures are not on a like-for-like basis because each authority did not have responsibility for upper tier functions, such as education or social services, before reorganisation took place
	(3) Figures rounded to the nearest pound
	The other English unitary authorities created during local government reorganisation have a population of over 100,000.

Ministerial Resignations

Ann Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will resign.

Stephen Byers: No.

Millennium Dome

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the condition of the lining of the Millennium Dome; and what the estimated cost is of cleaning the lining.

Sally Keeble: I understand from English Partnerships, who assumed ownership of the dome from 1 July 2001, that the roof of the dome is in good condition. There are three small holes in the internal lining, which do not need repairing. However, English Partnerships, will of course keep under review all matters relating to management and maintenance of their assets.

Millennium Dome

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions on what dates (a) he and (b) other Ministers in his Department have visited (i) the Millennium Dome and (ii) the site surrounding the Dome since 1 July.

Sally Keeble: I visited the Greenwich Peninsula, including the dome, on 10 September 2001, as part of my visit to the Greenwich Millennium Village. My right hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government and the Regions, has also frequently visited the Greenwich Peninsula, but not the dome, since 1 July 2001, as a constituency MP and as a private individual. No other DTLR minister has visited the dome or the Greenwich Peninsula recently.

Millennium Dome

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions which of the unsuccessful bidders for the Millennium Dome have had (a) any and (b) all of their costs reimbursed; and if he will publish the names of each such bidder together with the amount of their reimbursement.

Sally Keeble: None.

Millennium Dome

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans the Government have to use the Millennium Dome over the Christmas period; and if he will open it as a refuge for the homeless.

Sally Keeble: While the process of securing a long-term sustainable use is continuing, English Partnerships is following up expressions of interest it has received about possible events at the dome. The first of these will be the Ministry of Sound event on new year's eve. As preparation works will be under way in advance of this event, it will not be possible to accommodate any other uses during this period.

Primary School Location (Road Speed Limits)

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of how many primary schools in England are on roads with speed limits in excess of 30 miles per hour.

Stephen Timms: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested is not available centrally.

Fire Appliances

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions 
	(1)  how many available fire appliances are (a) less than one, (b) between one and three, (c) between three and five and (d) over five years old; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many fire appliances have been in road accidents while on operational duty in (a) 1994, (b) 1995, (c) 1996, (d) 1997, (e) 1998, (f) 1999 and (g) 2000; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  how many fire appliances are available in each (a) county and (b) London borough;
	(4)  how many of the total number of fire appliances are in active service.

Alan Whitehead: The number of fire appliances available in fire brigades in England and Wales at 31 March 2001 are shown in the following table. The pumps provide fire cover as required by the Fire Services Act 1947. Special appliances include hydraulic platforms, turntable ladders, foam tenders, emergency tenders, control units, hose laying lorries, chemical incident units and fire boats.
	The cost of determining the age of each appliance would be disproportionate but a brigade would expect to replace appliances over 12 to 15 years.
	In 2000 there were 1,534 accidents involving appliances. It is not known how many of these were due to road accidents while on operational duty. Again the cost of determining this for 2000 and for earlier years would be disproportionate.
	
		Number of front-line and reserve fire appliances in fire brigades in England and Wales at 31 March 2001
		
			  Front-line Reserve 
			  Pumps Specials Pumps Specials 
		
		
			 Avon 37 21 8 0 
			 Bedfordshire and Luton 22 19 4 0 
			 Buckinghamshire 31 12 4 0 
			 Cambridgeshire 38 11 6 0 
			 Cheshire 37 22 5 0 
			 Cleveland 23 7 3 0 
			 Cornwall 43 35 8 0 
			 County Durham and Darlington 27 6 5 0 
			 Cumbria 50 12 6 1 
			 Derbyshire 44 13 6 0 
			 Devon 81 20 9 1 
			 Dorset 41 26 6 1 
			 East Sussex 38 13 5 1 
			 Essex 71 21 16 1 
			 Gloucestershire 33 13 5 0 
			 Greater Manchester 67 30 14 8 
			 Hampshire 76 44 14 0 
			 Hereford and Worcester 42 18 6 0 
			 Hertfordshire 43 9 6 1 
			 Humberside 50 13 9 0 
			 Isle of Wight 16 9 3 0 
			 Isles of Scilly 2 3 0 1 
			 Kent 87 23 13 4 
			 Lancashire 63 17 7 2 
			 Leicestershire 33 17 4 0 
			 Lincolnshire 48 11 4 0 
			 London 170 43 43 15 
			 Merseyside 42 13 10 0 
			 Mid and West Wales 72 36 12 0 
			 Norfolk 52 11 9 0 
			 North Wales 54 31 9 1 
			 North Yorkshire 45 18 5 2 
			 Northamptonshire 28 9 4 0 
			 Northumberland 23 0 3 0 
			 Nottinghamshire 36 9 6 3 
			 Oxfordshire 36 8 6 1 
			 Royal Berkshire 24 10 6 1 
			 Shropshire 33 15 3 1 
			 Somerset 40 17 5 0 
			 South Wales 64 57 12 3 
			 South Yorkshire 32 8 6 1 
			 Staffordshire 48 17 7 0 
			 Suffolk 47 18 4 0 
			 Surrey 36 19 9 0 
			 Tyne and Wear 33 9 7 2 
			 Warwickshire 26 8 4 1 
			 West Midlands 62 13 14 6 
			 West Sussex 46 28 6 0 
			 West Yorkshire 66 14 10 3 
			 Wiltshire 38 18 6 0 
			  
			 Total 2,296 874 382 61

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

School Discipline

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of levels of indiscipline in (a) state primary and (b) state secondary schools since the abolition of corporal punishment.

Stephen Timms: Corporal punishment was abolished in state schools in 1987 and we have no plans to reintroduce it. Data on levels of indiscipline are not available on a consistent basis since 1987, so it is not possible to give an assessment of how levels of discipline have changed since then.

Class Sizes

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children there were in classes of 30 or more, by year group, in each of the last five years.

Stephen Timms: The following is the information:
	
		Number of pupils in classes of 30 or more, by year group, in maintained primary and secondary schools
		
			  Maintained primary(4)  
			  2001 2000 1999 1998 
		
		
			 Reception 102,892 113,773 147,223 163,243 
			 Year group 1 111,542 134,987 152,845 189,117 
			 Year group 2 111,793 146,357 191,460 217,346 
			 Year group 3 195,681 224,968 228,135 216,348 
			 Year group 4 222,042 226,862 212,128 197,954 
			 Year group 5 213,879 201,652 188,442 192,969 
			 Year group 6 192,371 186,438 196,775 175,773 
			 Year group 7 4,357 987 1,472 (6)— 
			 Mixed 320,592 374,445 419,725 482,822 
		
	
	
		
			   Maintained secondary  
			  2001(4) 2000(5) 1999(5) 1998(5) 1997(5) 
		
		
			 Year group 5 8,423 (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— 
			 Year group 6 8,837 (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— 
			 Year group 7 131,250 (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— 
			 Year group 8 163,879 (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— 
			 Year group 9 146,462 (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— 
			 Year group 10 73,741 (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— 
			 Year group 11 65,838 (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— 
			 Year group 12 1,299 (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— 
			 Year group 13 485 (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— 
			 Mixed 28,489 (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— 
			 Aged under 14 (6)— 427,000 399,939 355,465 317,647 
			 Aged 14 and 15 (6)— 133,596 124,759 115,926 104,866 
			 Aged 16 plus (6)— 2,566 1,974 2,419 2,219 
		
	
	(4) Includes middle schools
	(5) Excludes middle schools
	(6) Not available
	Note:
	Information on class sizes by year group in primary schools was not collected prior to 1998

Schools Adjudicator

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the right of hon. Members to make representations to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator about constituency issues.

Stephen Timms: The role of the Schools Adjudicator is to decide on LEA school organisation plans, and individual school proposals and admission arrangements, where it has not been possible to reach agreement locally and there has been a statutory objection. Adjudicators must consider each case on its merits, taking into account all the information available to them and the views expressed by all interested parties. Hon. Members do not have statutory objection rights but are free to make representations to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator on cases under consideration, in the same way as any member of the public with a local interest. Decisions of the Schools Adjudicator are binding on the parties concerned.

Sixth Forms

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools (a) opened a new sixth form and (b) closed their sixth form in each of the last three years; in which learning and skills councils area they are located; and what the average A level points score was of each school listed under (a).

Ivan Lewis: Proposals have been approved for the following schools to open new, or close existing, sixth forms during the past three years.
	
		(a) New sixth forms
		
			  Year/name of school  LEA  LSC area Average point score per student based on 2001 A/AS/AGNVQ results 
		
		
			 2001
			 Kesgrave High School Suffolk Suffolk n/a 
			 
			 2000
			 Hamstead Hall School Birmingham Birmingham and Solihull 16.6 
			 The Axe Valley Community College Devon Devon and Cornwall n/a 
			 St. Edwards RC/CofE VA School Poole Bournemouth/Dorset/Poole 15.2 
			 
			 1999
			 The Compton High School and Sports College Ealing London West 4.7 
			 Filsham Valley School East Sussex Sussex 10.3 
		
	
	
		(b) Closed sixth forms
		
			 Name of school LEA LSC area 
		
		
			 2001   
			 St. Edmunds Catholic School Portsmouth Hampshire and Isle of Wight 
			 Normanton Freeston Voluntary Controlled High School Wakefield West Yorkshire 
			 The Petersfield School Hampshire Hampshire and Isle of Wight 
			 Hull Trinity House School Kingston upon Hull Humberside 
			 2000   
			 Beaumont Leys School Leicester City Leicestershire 
			 Breckfield Community Comprehensive School Liverpool Merseyside and Halton 
			 Campion Catholic High School Liverpool Merseyside and Halton 
			 St. Benedict's Catholic High School Wirral Merseyside and Halton 
			
			 1999   
			 Babington Community Technology College Leicester City Leicestershire 
			 Malory School Lewisham London East 
			 Our Lady's Catholic High School Liverpool Merseyside and Halton 
			 Broadoak Community School North Somerset West of England 
		
	
	n/a = not available

Learning and Skills Council

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what criteria she has established for the distribution of the Learning and Skills Council's standards fund in 2002–03.

Margaret Hodge: holding answer 5 December 2001
	The Learning and Skills Council is responsible for setting the criteria for distribution of its standards fund. The council will publish the criteria to post-16 providers in time for the 2002–03 financial year.

School Links

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assistance is available to schools wishing to establish links with other schools in the (a) European Union and (b) Commonwealth.

Margaret Hodge: holding answer 5 December 2001
	The Department for Education and Skills provides assistance for schools to establish links with schools in the EU, Commonwealth and worldwide through its funding of organisations such as the British Council. Programmes include practical help with finding a school as well as a range of assistance to help with the cost of visiting the partner school.
	Increasingly, school links are being made by utilising information and communication technology. For instance, schools seeking partner schools anywhere in the world can consult the Windows on the World website on the internet at http://www.wotw.org.uk or the Montage Plus website at http://www.montageplus.co.uk which supports joint curriculum projects between schools in this country and abroad.
	EU funding is also available through the Socrates Programme, the European Action Programme in the field of education that focuses specifically on schools in the EU through the Comenius action. The programme is open to the member states of the EU as well as all the applicant countries of central and eastern Europe, Cyprus and Malta. Contact seminars for schools wishing to find partners are held regularly across Europe. The British Council publicises the action, and holds UK regional briefing meetings on the Socrates Programme to advertise the opportunities. The Partbase database (partbase.eupro.se) provides schools with an on-line search facility for finding Comenius partners.

DEFENCE

Combat Arms

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on undermanning in the Army's combat arms.

Adam Ingram: Combat arms are those which are trained and equipped to be in contact with the enemy and those who provide direct offensive and combat support. Manning in these arms as at 1 November is given in the table.
	
		
			 Arm Liability(7) Strength Deficit Percentage 
		
		
			 Officers 
			 Royal Armoured, Corps/Household, Cavalry Regiment 861 823 -38 -4.4 
			 Royal Artillery 1,062 1,028 -34 -3.2 
			 Royal Engineers 1,139 1,112 -27 -2.4 
			 Infantry 2,766 2,795 +29 +1.0 
			 Army Air Corps(8) 459 411 -48 -10.5 
			  
			 Soldiers 
			 Royal Armoured, Corps/Household, Cavalry Regiment 5,011 4,916 -95 -1.9 
			 Royal Artillery 7,439 6,923 -516 -6.9 
			 Royal Engineers 7,662 7,401 -261 -3.4 
			 Infantry 23,971 22,561 -1,410 -5.9 
			 Army Air Corps(8) 1,309 1,324 +15 +1.1 
		
	
	(7) Liability figures quoted are In-Year.
	(8) Pilot shortfalls in the AAC are made up by attachees from other Arms and Services. At any one time there are approximately 100 attachees, which are not reflected in the table.
	The Army remains committed to achieving full manning by around 2005. We have always said that returning the Army to full manning would be a long haul and recognise that this represents a significant challenge. It requires a three pronged approach; maximising recruitment while reducing wastage during training and improving the return of service of trained personnel. The package of measures we have introduced has already delivered some benefits with improvements in retention and we are pursuing a number of recruitment initiatives at regional and national level.

Students (Defence Research)

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what arrangements his Department has in place to assist school students researching defence topics.

Lewis Moonie: It is important that young people—the voters and taxpayers of tomorrow—should have an understanding of defence. In addition, defence has much to offer the curriculum. The Ministry of Defence produces a wide range of publications which are available to assist school students in their research, or to inform members of the public who wish to find out more about defence. These include a series of leaflets on various aspects of defence activity, a new series of leaflets describing the impact of defence activity in each region of the country, and a series of booklets including one—Defence Matters—that is tailored specifically for students and has been sent to schools across the country. All our publications are available on demand and can also be found on the MOD website together with a wide range of other material about defence.
	In addition, each of the services has a student presentation team or teams, which visit schools and colleges across the country, and we are currently in the process of appointing a schools adviser who will develop a range of defence related material that can be used to help deliver the curriculum.

Army Recruitment (Scottish Regiments)

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) establishment strength, (b) actual strength and (c) level of undermanning in percentage terms of establishment against actual strength was for the (i) Highlanders, (ii) Black Watch, (iii) Royal Scots, (iv) Royal Highland Fusiliers, (v) King's Own Scottish Borderers, (vi) Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, (vii) Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and (viii) Scots Guards on 1 November; what initiatives are under way in Scotland to address issues of (A) recruitment and (B) retention; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The establishment and actual strengths and level of undermanning in percentage terms for each of the Scottish regiments listed is shown in the table.
	We recognise the need to maximise recruiting levels across the Army as whole. The Army launched a major recruiting campaign in autumn 2000 aimed at targeting a more diverse and well-qualified audience as well as encouraging those who have already expressed an interest in the Army as a career to make the commitment. We are also aiming at reducing the number of recruits withdrawing during training by combining Phase I and Phase II Infantry Training.
	As part of the overall recruiting campaign, the Army appointed a Glasgow recruiting company, Search, to manage all the Army's recruitment in the Glasgow area for an initial one-year trial period from the beginning of April 2001. Search will undertake promotional and marketing activity to highlight the many different career opportunities available in the Army with the aim of boosting the numbers of young people choosing the Army as a career.
	Retention levels among soldiers have held steady over the last 12 months or so. However, we are not relaxing our efforts in this area and have introduced several Operational welfare initiatives including: Guaranteed Post Operational tour leave, electronic blueys and 20 minutes free telephone call per week for personnel on Operations. We also recognise the importance of providing soldiers and their families a decent standard of accommodation and have several projects in hand to effect improvements to current housing stock.
	
		Scottish regiments as at 1 November 2001
		
			  Establishment Strength Percentage 
		
		
			 Scots Dragoon Guards 590 498 -15.6 
			 One Scots Guards 620 687 +10.8 
			 One Royal Scots 620 512 -17.4 
			 One Royal Highland Fusiliers 620 544 -12.3 
			 One Kings Own Scottish Borderers 620 642 +3.5 
			 One Black Watch 741 640 -13.6 
			 One Highlanders 667 (9)614 -7.9 
			 One Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders 620 593 -4.4 
		
	
	(9) Includes 108 personnel in the Gurkha Reinforcement Company (GRC).

Defence Spending (Scotland)

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much of the defence budget was spent in Scotland in the most recent year for which figures are available (a) in actual terms and (b) as a percentage of the total defence budget.

Adam Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Defence on 15 October 2001, Official Report, columns 959–60W.

Operation Veritas

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the number of RAF flying hours accrued for Operation Veritas.

Adam Ingram: As of 3 December, the RAF had accrued over 2,600 flying hours during Operation Veritas. Approximately 1,100 of these flying hours related to reconnaissance missions and almost 1,500 to air to air refuelling flights. Hours accrued during other RAF missions, primarily resupply flights from the UK, are not included in this figure.

Polish Pilots

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received on the exclusion of Polish pilots from the Battle of Britain war memorial at Dover; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: The Ministry of Defence has received no representations about the exclusion of Polish pilots from the Battle of Britain war memorial at Dover.

DARA

Syd Rapson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what studies have been carried out in the Defence Aviation Repair Agency which recommends the closure of (a) Fleetlands, (b) St Athans and (c) Sealand in Flintshire.

Adam Ingram: No studies have been carried out that recommend the closure of any of the DARA sites.

C-17s

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if C-17s have the capacity to drop cargo by parachute.

Adam Ingram: The C-17 aircraft is capable of dropping cargo by parachute and it is used in this role by the United States Air Force. However, the UK does not currently envisage using the aircraft in this role and has not sought the clearances necessary to do so.

C-17s

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if paratroop insertion for C-17s is possible.

Adam Ingram: The C-17 aircraft is capable of dropping paratroops and it is used in this role by the United States Air Force. However, the UK does not currently envisage using the aircraft in this role, and has not sought the clearances necessary to do so.

C-17s

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many flying hours are permitted per annum for C-17s.

Adam Ingram: Our lease contract for the RAF's four C-17s does not restrict flying hours. However, the contracted support package is based on an assumed annual fleet usage rate of 3,000 hours. Additional flying hours will give rise to an additional charge for the associated support.

C-17s

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the operation of the C-17s is constrained by the Health and Safety regulations; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: C-17 aircraft have been in service with the United States Air Force for several years. Nevertheless, prior to the aircraft entering service with the Royal Air Force, the Ministry of Defence contracted an independent safety assessor to undertake a risk-based safety analysis in relation to UK Health and Safety legislation. This analysis contributed to the overall safety case on the basis of which the aircraft was cleared for operational service.

Weapons

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what dense metals are used in the hard-target penetrators of the (a) GBU-24, (b) GBU-32 (upgraded), (c) GBU-37, (d) AGM-86D, (e) AGM-65G, (f) AGM-154C and (g) M220-TOW weapons systems.

Adam Ingram: Only two of the weapons listed—a variant of the GBU-24 and a variant of the AGM-65—are in service with UK armed forces. Neither use depleted uranium or any other "dense metal" in their warheads.

Weapons

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what dense metals (a) are and (b) have been used in the (i) development, (ii) testing and (iii) operational use of the BEe/RO BROACH MWS warhead systems.

Adam Ingram: The only dense metal contained in the BROACH MWS is a tungsten-based alloy. No other dense metal is or has been used in its development or testing. The BROACH MWS is not forecast to enter service before August 2002.

Forces Personnel (Health Care)

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many armed forces personnel have been treated in the independent health care sector at his Department's expense in each of the last eight years; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how much has been spent on treatments in the independent health care sector by his Department in each of the last eight years.

Lewis Moonie: Information is not readily available for the costs and numbers of personnel treated in the independent health care sector for the period of the last eight years. However, a series of initiatives undertaken in 2000 and 2001 have covered in total some 2,600 personnel at a cost of £4.7 million. These figures include investigations and out-patient appointments as well as treatment.

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Julia Drown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will set out the time scale for ratification of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child; and what plans the Government have for the deployment of under-18s after its ratification.

Geoff Hoon: Officials in both the Ministry of Defence and Foreign and Commonwealth Office are actively working on ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, and we aim to ratify as soon as possible. We hope this will be in early 2002. The UK made a statement on signature of the Optional Protocol in September 2000 clarifying its understanding of the obligation on states (Article 1) to take all feasible measures to prevent the direct participation in hostilities of personnel under 18 years of age. The current work is aimed at finalising the detailed administrative guidelines for the armed forces which will give form to that commitment. Meanwhile, we take great care of the types of duty on which personnel under the age of 18 may be employed and ensure that none are deployed unless fully trained.
	No service personnel under the age of 17 are deployed on operations. No personnel under the age of 18 carry out operational patrols in Northern Ireland, although 17-year-olds can be based in the Province. Also, under-18s are not deployed as aircrew or in submarines and, in line with UN policy, we do not deploy personnel under the age of 18 on UN peacekeeping operations.
	The UK believes that, if it is widely ratified and its provisions properly implemented, the Protocol will represent a major step towards preventing the exposure of children, sometimes as young as seven or eight, to appalling danger and brutality, often by forceable recruitment into non-government forces.

Key Point Defence

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what assessment of key point defence he has made since 11 September; what the outcome was (a) in Scotland and (b) in the rest of the UK; and what assessment he has made of the resources available in the UK to guard key points in the event of an emergency;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the adequacy of volunteer reserves in Scotland to undertake key point defence.

Adam Ingram: The security and defence of key points within the UK is a matter for the police. Should the threat warrant additional security, beyond that which a particular constabulary are able to provide, they can call on assistance from other police forces across the country and, ultimately, from the armed forces. Under current arrangements, regular service personnel would be used to augment the police. Arrangements for mutual aid between police forces and for military support to the police are the same throughout the UK.
	All counter terrorist contingency plans, including those relating to key points in the UK as a whole, are being reviewed to ensure they remain robust and relevant in the light of the terrorist attacks of 11 September. As part of work on the New Chapter of the Strategic Defence Review, consideration is being given to a possible increased role for the armed forces including the Territorial and Reserve Forces, in homeland security.

Nuclear Liabilities

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his estimate of the value of liabilities owed by his Department arising from radiological contamination at or arising from (a) nuclear submarine bases and berths, (b) nuclear weapons manufacture, (c) nuclear weapons design and developments, (d) military nuclear materials production and processing, (e) radioactive waste conditioning and storage, (f) nuclear weapons explosive testing within the United Kingdom and abroad and (g) nuclear propulsion reactor research, development and manufacture.

Adam Ingram: As at 31 March 2001, the Ministry of Defence's nuclear liabilities amounted to £3,574,809,000 (representing the liabilities discounted at 6 per cent. and expressed in 2000–01 money values) or £16,039,639,000 (undiscounted) mainly arising from the areas noted. A more detailed breakdown is not available in the form requested.
	Provision for liabilities and charges is included in the MOD's annual Departmental Resource Account. The Account for 2000–01 will shortly be published and a copy will be placed in the Library of the House.

Afghanistan

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what communications British military personnel located in Afghanistan have had with the US Marines based near Kandahar.

Geoff Hoon: British forces in Afghanistan are in regular contact with the US Marines based near Kandahar.

Saif Sareea

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost was of desert-proofing equipment used by the UK military in Oman; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The vast majority of the UK military equipment deployed to Oman for Exercise Saif Sareea required no modification in order to operate in the climatic conditions encountered during the exercise. Although individual units may, at modest cost, have taken measures to prepare equipment for the exercise, a decision was taken not to fully desertise all major items of equipment. An example of individual unit measures was the fitting of sand filters and protective blade strips to RN helicopters, the costs of which could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

SA80 Mk II Rifle

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the deployment of the SA80 MK II rifle in the Army.

Adam Ingram: The main deployment of the SA80 A2 rifle is due to take place between early 2002 and mid 2006. However some weapons have already been issued to elements of two UK based Brigades on standby for Operation Veritas. The Service Shooting Teams have also received rifles as part of an early deployment programme and have successfully used them in international competitions.

Early Warning Radar

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what work is to be undertaken under the programme for upgraded early warning radar support in the UK, allocated to the US ballistic missile defence organisation in their 2002 fiscal year budget.

Geoff Hoon: We have received no request from the United States for the use of facilities in the UK for missile defence purposes. The US ballistic missile defence organisation's 2002 fiscal year budget is a matter for them.

Armed Forces Headquarters

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is on the dispersal of (a) brigade and (b) divisional permanent headquarters.

Adam Ingram: The Strategy for the Army (SFTA), a copy of which is in the Library of the House, stated that the Army should be based progressively in the UK over time, becoming more regionally focused, whenever opportunities present themselves. Decisions on the future basing of Army units will be made against this background.

Transport Ships

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his estimate is of the cost of placing the order for four new roll-on, roll-off transport ships for the Royal Navy; and if he will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: holding answer 5 December 2001
	Negotiations continue to finalise a 25-year private finance initiative contract for the Department's strategic sealift with AWSR as the preferred bidder. This will cover the operation, support, maintenance, and crewing of up to six roll on/roll off ferries to be available for the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to use at varying periods of notice. It is estimated that routinely the MOD will require only four of the six vessels and when not being used by the Department they will be available to the owners, AWSR, for commercial purposes. The total value of the contract is estimated to be worth around £950 million with some 85 per cent. being spent within the UK. The cost of the ship-build element will be contained within the overall strategic sealift service contract. We hope to be in a position to complete negotiations shortly.

Eurofighter

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on (a) the Eurofighter and (b) the Joint Strike Fighter and when they will be in service.

Geoff Hoon: Both Eurofighter and the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) will be essential components of the UK fast jet inventory. They will complement each other. Eurofighter is optimised for the air superiority role, while JSF is primarily a strike aircraft, with a secondary air defence role. The current forecast in service dates for Eurofighter and JSF are 2002 and 2012 respectively.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

British Trade International

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will announce details of the overseas trade fairs, seminars and outward missions programme to be supported by British Trade International from 1 April 2002.

Patricia Hewitt: Details of a £21.7 million British Trade International programme of support for participating in overseas trade fairs, seminars and outward missions, in the form of supported groups, will be placed in the Libraries of the House. Organisations that bid for support are being informed.
	These activities continue to be central to trade development work world wide. We are conscious of sponsor organisations' need for a greater degree of flexibility on how these funds are allocated, particularly for overseas trade fairs and seminars to reflect the ways in which conditions in some markets and sectors may change in the course of the year. British Trade International will seek to observe this need for flexibility, within the overall budget provision, in administering the 2002–03 programme.

Fireworks

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what guidance she has given to trading standards officers in local authorities throughout the United Kingdom to ensure that fireworks comply with British Standard 7144.

Melanie Johnson: We have made it a requirement under the Fireworks (Safety) Regulations 1977 that fireworks must comply with BS7114. In addition, we have issued guidance to trading standard officers and others through our firework safety toolkit on the requirements of the 1997 regulations including the importance of BS7114.

Government Office for the North-West

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what (a) advice and (b) support was provided to Thomas Whitter Ltd. by the Government office for the north-west after the company was taken into administration.

Alan Johnson: No advice or support has been sought by or given to Thomas Witter Ltd. by the Government office for the north-west.

Government Office for the North-West

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what decisions were taken by the north-west development agency in relation to support for Thomas Whitter Ltd. following the actions taken by the Government office for the north-west.

Alan Johnson: No decisions have been taken by the north-west development agency about support to Thomas Witter Ltd. The agency has been in contact with the company, but the company does not feel that the agency can do anything to help. The agency remains willing to discuss support should that position change.

Government Office for the North-West

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to her answer of 29 November 2001, Official Report, column 1047W, on the Government office for the north-west, what (a) support and (b) advice the Government office for the north-west provides to companies in non-assisted areas on management buy-outs.

Alan Johnson: The Government office for the north-west can provide advice on a range of issues associated with management buy-outs, either directly or indirectly, by referring the company to one of its partner organisations, such as the Small Business Service or the north-west development agency. The Government office cannot provide direct financial support to companies in non-assisted areas.

Government Office for the North-West

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what files the Government office for the north-west holds on concerns raised by hon. Members on behalf of local companies.

Alan Johnson: The Government office for the north-west holds files where concerns raised by hon. Members have led to some substantive action being taken.

Government Office for the North-West

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what are the criteria for companies to receive (a) advice and (b) support from the Government office for the north-west when placed in administration.

Alan Johnson: Any company may seek advice from the Government office for the north-west, regardless of its situation. A company may be eligible for financial support from the Government office if it is located in an assisted area and is investing in capital expenditure. This can apply to a company in administration where the legal entity of the company changes.

Hearing Aids

John Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what research her Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on standards of conduct and competence concerning the advertising and selling of hearing aids to elderly and vulnerable customers; and if she will make a statement on the plans for independent scrutiny of the hearing aid industry.

Melanie Johnson: The private supply of hearing aids is regulated by the Hearing Aid Council. The operation of the Hearing Aid Council was recently reviewed. The Government are considering its recommendations.

Consumer Protection

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to change consumer protection legislation relating to the purchase of motor insurance policies following the provisional liquidation of Sussex Insurance Services.

Melanie Johnson: The DTI investigated this company and the Secretary of State petitioned successfully for its provisional liquidation. Responsibility for insurance regulation, which protects consumers in this area, rests with the Treasury and the FSA.

Small Businesses

Denis Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps she is taking to encourage the growth and development of small businesses in areas of high unemployment.

Nigel Griffiths: The Small Business Service (SBS) was established in April 2000 as a single Government agency dedicated to help small firms and represent their interests. One of the key aims of the SBS is to stimulate enterprise, particularly in areas of deprivation, including those with high levels of unemployment.
	Working through a national network of Business Link operators, the SBS provides information, advice and access to expertise on just about everything needed to start and grow a business. An element of the funding provided to Business Link operators is allocated on the basis of relative levels of deprivation.
	Under the Phoenix fund, we are providing support to 96 projects aimed at stimulating enterprise among under-represented and disadvantaged groups. A number of these projects are in areas of high unemployment.
	Enterprise grants of up to £75,000 are available in the assisted areas and other specified areas of England to support growing small and medium-sized businesses. In addition, larger grants are available through regional selective assistance in assisted areas to help create and safeguard jobs.
	The whole Wansbeck district is covered by the enterprise grant scheme and much of it by assisted areas.
	Under the new deal, help is available to all long term unemployed people who want to become self-employed.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Human Rights (Nigeria)

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment her Department has made of human rights in Nigeria; and what actions her Department is taking to improve human rights in Nigeria.

Clare Short: We welcome steps taken by the Nigerian Government and the National Assembly towards ratification of the Convention against Torture, the drafting of a National Action Plan on Human Rights, strengthening of the National Human Rights Commission and the removal of existing laws that contravene international human rights obligations. There remain areas of concern including the handling of tensions between ethnic groups, the use of capital and corporal punishment, prison conditions and the high numbers of Nigerians that live in extreme poverty.
	I recently approved a £30 million programme to support Nigerian efforts, at both federal and state level, to enable poor people to obtain rapid and fair justice. This involves the whole justice system—courts, police, prisons, legal aid, and traditional and informal mediation. We will focus this programme in our four partnership states. These are Benue, Ekiti, Enugu and Jigawa. We will ensure that the assistance programme is taken forward in all four states in ways that uphold international human rights standards.
	We are also providing £2.4 million to civil society organisations in Nigeria working for better governance and the realisation of the rights of the marginalised people in Nigeria.
	In order to address the economic and social rights of poor people in Nigeria, we are currently designing and implementing a range of programmes (in basic health, support to the electoral process, state and local government reform, among others) with a probable value of some £140 million.
	We are working closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to establish a high-level bilateral human rights dialogue with the Nigerian Government on issues such as child and women's rights (including trafficking issues), and international and regional human rights obligations.

African Trade and Poverty Programme

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which African countries will benefit from the UK's contribution to the African Trade and Poverty Programme; and what criteria were used to decide these countries.

Clare Short: Through the Africa Trade and Poverty Programme (TPP) we are making available funding of £7.5 million to work in up to 12 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, as well as in regional organisations, to build capacity for trade reforms which serve poverty reduction objectives.
	Trade and Poverty Programme projects are expected to start in 2002 in Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Botswana (as well as with the East Africa Community). The main criteria for selection of these countries have been strong demand for TPP within the country, and consistency of the TPP approach with DFID's other work on poverty reduction. Exploratory visits have been made to nine other countries. This may lead to further country projects being developed during 2002.

Afghanistan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the aid agencies that are active within Afghanistan; where they are operating; and what level of food aid they are providing.

Clare Short: Information on which agencies are working where in Afghanistan, and the kind of relief goods that they are distributing can be obtained from the Humanitarian Information Centre (HIC) in Islamabad, set up by the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) with technical and financial assistance from my Department. Regularly updated activity maps can be found on their website at www.hic.org.pk.
	The UN world food programme (WFP) is the lead agency in terms of emergency food assistance. Before 11 September, they were transporting enough food into Afghanistan to feed 5 million people. Since then, despite significant constraints on the operating environment, they have continued to dispatch increasingly large amounts of food into the country. WFP currently has food distribution contracts with 61 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working inside Afghanistan.

Afghanistan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what discussions are taking place between the Government and aid agencies on how to gain entry to Taliban-controlled areas;
	(2)  if she will make a statement as current aid provision for Afghanistan, with particular reference to the parts of the country which (a) are receiving aid and (b) are not.

Clare Short: Humanitarian agencies, particularly the world food programme (WFP), continue to make good progress in transporting humanitarian relief into Afghanistan. Some international staff of humanitarian agencies have now returned to the country and are working with national staff to reach those in need of assistance. However, despite the best efforts of humanitarian agencies, some areas of Afghanistan are proving difficult to access. We are in regular contact with aid agencies about how to gain access to vulnerable people living in insecure areas of Afghanistan, whether Taliban-controlled or otherwise. Areas of particular concern, where vulnerable people are in need of food and other relief supplies, and access is constrained by insecurity, are the western and central highlands; southern Afghanistan, particularly the area around Kandahar city; and Badghis and Faryab Provinces.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

House of Lords Appointments Commission

Gordon Prentice: To ask the President of the Council what recent discussions the House of Lords Appointments Commission had concerning the criteria they use for selecting people's peers with the objective of making the House of Lords more representative.

Robin Cook: I understand that the Appointments Commission asked for feedback on the criteria which it used for its first round of appointments. It has considered responses to this request, and has concluded that the criteria it originally adopted remain relevant. The commission's criteria are set out on its website www.houseoflordsappointmentscommission.gov.uk.

House of Lords Appointments Commission

Gordon Prentice: To ask the President of the Council how many civil servants and at what grade are working (a) full-time and (b) part-time for the House of Lords Appointments Commission.

Robin Cook: I understand that one member of the senior civil service works part-time for the House of Lords Appointments Commission. One other member of staff works full-time at Cabinet Office range A level. There is a full-time administrative support post which is currently vacant.

House of Lords Appointments Commission

Gordon Prentice: To ask the President of the Council how many days per month members of the House of Lords Appointments Commission devote to their Commission duties.

Robin Cook: I understand that on average the members of the House of Lords Appointments Commission devote two to three days a month to their duties.

House of Lords Appointments Commission

Gordon Prentice: To ask the President of the Council when the printed version of the annual report for 2000 of the House of Lords Appointments Commission will be lodged in the Library.

Robin Cook: I understand that the House of Lords Appointments Commission's annual report will be lodged in the Library when it is published in the new year. The report will cover the period May 2000 (when the Commission was set up) to November 2001.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Contract Staff

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many (a) special advisers and (b) press officers were employed (i) full time, (ii) part time and (iii) on a contract basis by his Department in each year since 1992.

Ben Bradshaw: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office to the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Mr. Salmond) on 21 November 2001, Official Report, column 340W.

Royal Prerogative

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many ministerial decisions were made where authority for the same derived from the royal prerogative for the most recent calendar month for which information is available.

Denis MacShane: Records are not kept of the individual occasions on which powers under the royal prerogative are exercised nor could it be practicable to do so.

Unallocated Funds

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will estimate the total unallocated funds within his departmental expenditure limit (a) at the start of the financial year and (b) to date; and what was the month seven forecast on outturn underspend against his departmental expenditure limit in (i) real and (ii) percentage terms.

Denis MacShane: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office allocated its full 2001–02 provision, other than on conflict prevention, where we hold a departmental unallocated provision (DUP) of £27,849,000. This figure is set out on page 130 of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's departmental annual report for 2001–02. There has been no draw-down of this DIP to date.
	Outturn against our six-month forecast for each request for resources will be published in the Winter Supplementary Estimates Summary request for supply as usual.

Departmental Assets

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs further to his answer of 5 November 2001, Official Report, column 1W, on departmental assets, if he will make a statement on what (a) quantities, (b) countries of origin and (c) maximum bottle price of fine wines are available for use at home; and what was the cost by Department for the last year.

Denis MacShane: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 14 November 2001, Official Report, columns 746–47W.
	Wines from many different countries of origin are represented in the Government Cellar including, England, Wales, Portugal, United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Germany, Spain, Italy and France.
	It is not possible to give a detailed break-down of wine costs by Department; such a breakdown would incur disproportionate cost.

Nuclear Reprocessing

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the basis of the criticisms of the competence of the authors of the report prepared for the European Parliament's Scientific and Technological Option Assessment Programme on possible toxic effects from nuclear reprocessing plants at Sellafield, that the Attorney General put before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on 19–20 November.

Jack Straw: The Government, in their submissions before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in the MOX plant case, drew attention to criticisms that had been made of the Wise report regarding its possible lack of objectivity. As these statements were made in the context of legal proceedings, I would not wish to paraphrase them. I refer my hon. Friend to the full verbatim transcripts of the statements made by the Government to the Tribunal during the hearings on 19 and 20 November. These are available on the website of the Tribunal at http://www.itlos.org.
	The relevant sections from the transcripts are as follows:
	Transcript of public sitting held on Monday, 19 November 2001, at 3.00 p.m.
	Page 23, lines 34–41
	http://www.itlos.org/case–documents/2001/document–en–194.pdf
	Transcript of public sitting held on Tuesday, 20 November 2001, at 9.30 a.m.
	Page 5, lines 43–50, page 6, lines 1–17, page 29, lines 4–41
	http://www.itlos.org/case–documents/2001/document–en–195.pdf
	Transcript of public sitting held on Tuesday, 20 November 2001, at 3.15 p.m.
	Page 20, lines 22–27
	http://www.itlos.org/case–documents/2001/document–en–196.pdf
	Alternatively, these transcripts may be accessed by starting from the home page of the Tribunal's website (http://www.itlos.org) and making the following selections:
	English
	Proceedings and Judgments
	Docket
	Case No.10 (The MOX Plant Case)
	Oral proceedings
	ITLOS/PV.01/07,
	ITLOS/PV.01/08, and
	ITLOS/PV.01/09.
	The above page and line references are to the uncorrected versions of the transcripts which are currently displayed on the Tribunal's website. When the Tribunal replaces these with the corrected versions, there might be some slight changes in the line numberings of the relevant text. If these are material I will write to my hon. Friend to inform him.

Overseas Territories Consultative Council

Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which Government Ministers attended the Overseas Territories Consultative Council meeting in September; on what basis and for how long on each occasion each Minister attended; what subjects were discussed; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The third meeting of the Overseas Territories Consultative Council took place on 24 to 26 September 2001. Baroness Amos chaired the Council. Ministers from DFID, the Home Office, HM Treasury, DTLR, DFES and DEFRA also participated. In all, seven UK Ministers represented HMG at sessions on subjects for which their Department had lead responsibility. The duration of each session was approximately 90 minutes. The topics discussed included; constitutional and governance issues, immigration and nationality, financial issues, aviation safety and security, education, strategic development planning, realisation of human rights and environmental issues.

Catherine Meyer

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to assist Catherine Meyer to be reunited with her sons.

Ben Bradshaw: Catherine Meyer is currently pursuing legal proceedings before the German Constitutional Court to be reunited with her sons. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has provided consular support and assistance to Catherine Meyer with her case in the past and, as with any such case, we continue to provide consular assistance whenever we properly can.

Andorra

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Department has had with Andorran (a) parliamentarians and (b) officials in the last three years.

Peter Hain: The British Ambassador to Spain, in his capacity as non-resident Ambassador to Andorra, has visited Andorra three times within the last three years. The most recent trip was on 15 October 2001, when he met separately with the Andorran Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. In addition, the Ambassador has also had separate meetings with the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister in both Madrid and Paris during this period.
	HM Consul-General in Barcelona, in his capacity as Consul-General to Andorra, has made three trips to Andorra in the last two years, the most recent in June 2001.
	The previous (non-resident) Andorran Ambassador to the Court of St. James made occasional visits to the United Kingdom for discussions with Foreign Office officials. The last visit was on 9 April 2001. The new Andorran Ambassador has yet to present his credentials and has not therefore visited officially.
	At all meetings, discussions focused on issues relating to the bilateral relationship.

Azerbaijan

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Azerbaijan on journalists' freedom.

Peter Hain: We continue to raise the issue of media freedom in Azerbaijan through a number of channels; most recently on 4 December in London with senior Azeri Foreign Ministry officials. The Ambassador in Baku has also raised specific issues of concern with Azeri Ministers and Presidential advisers; the UK has participated in joint EU representations in Baku.

Azerbaijan

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Azerbaijan on their compliance with the founding principles of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Peter Hain: We raise compliance with Council of Europe founding principles regularly with the Azeris, including with the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Azeri Parliament (the deputy leader of the PACE delegation). These matters have also been raised with President Aliev's legal adviser bilaterally and through the Council of Europe monitoring group. The Government have pledged £50,000 to help Azerbaijan with compliance issues.

Gibraltar

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the responsibilities of the Governor of Gibraltar concerning the policing of Gibraltar.

Peter Hain: Under the 1969 Gibraltar Constitution the Governor is responsible for the internal security of Gibraltar, including the Royal Gibraltar Police.

Gibraltar

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many inquiries his Department has received concerning the future of Gibraltar since 7 June.

Peter Hain: Since 7 June, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has received some 224 items of correspondence concerning the future of Gibraltar. These include letters from Members of Parliament, and e-mails, faxes and letters from members of the public. In addition the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has received the outcome of a write-in campaign on Gibraltar organised by a national newspaper—an estimated 11,000 coupons.

Gibraltar

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Governor of Gibraltar about delays in crossing the border with Spain.

Peter Hain: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not recently discussed with the Governor of Gibraltar the issue of delays in crossing the border with Spain. However, my most recent discussion of this issue with the Governor took place on 29 November.

Gibraltar

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had about the dual use of Gibraltar's airport.

Ben Bradshaw: Discussions under the Brussels Process are aimed at overcoming all the differences between the UK and Spain over Gibraltar and at promoting co-operation on a mutually beneficial basis, including on aviation matters.
	My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs discussed issues of co-operation when they met under the Brussels Process in Barcelona on 20 November.
	Copies of the joint press communique have been placed in the Libraries of the House. The Government remain keen to see progress on the development of Gibraltar airport and believe that this would bring economic and commercial benefit to the people of Gibraltar and the neighbouring region in Spain.

Gibraltar

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Governor of Gibraltar on Spain's access to the airport in Gibraltar.

Peter Hain: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not discussed with the Governor of Gibraltar the issue of Spain's access to the airport in Gibraltar.

Israel

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what monitoring systems are in place to guarantee that UK manufactured and licensed equipment, components and spares are not used against civilians in Israel's Occupied Territories; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: We assess all export licensed applications on a case-by-case basis against the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria in light of circumstances prevailing at the time. We are keeping the situation under close review. We have no evidence that equipment manufactured in the UK and licensed for export by this Government has been used by Israeli forces against civilians in the Occupied Territories during the recent and continuing violence. We would be concerned if such evidence came to light.
	We use information supplied by a number of sources to check that British equipment is not being used against Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, including information gathered by our embassy and non-governmental organisations among others.
	However, the surest way of preventing UK defence exports from being misused is to refuse an export licence if it is assessed that an unacceptable risk of misuse or diversion exists, among other reasons. To this end, the Government have also taken steps to strengthen the process of risk assessment when considering export licence applications for any destination. For example, we have improved our procedures for gathering information on end-users of potential concern from UK overseas posts. We also take into account reliable information received about end-users of concern from a variety of external sources, including international reporting bodies and non-governmental organisations.

Israel

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government are taking to encourage the setting up of an international monitoring presence in Israel's Occupied Territories; what specific proposals have been put forward by the British Government; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: We condemn the suicide bomb attacks in Israel over the weekend, and regret the cycle of violence now taking place in the region. It is clear that Israel and the Palestinians must return to dialogue as the only means of securing a just and lasting peace in the middle east. It remains our view that third-party monitoring, accepted by both parties, would serve their interests in implementing the Mitchell recommendations. In common with the US and our EU partners, we stand ready to contribute to monitoring if both parties agree to their presence.

Afghanistan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the role the Government are playing at the Bonn Conference on the future of Afghanistan.

Ben Bradshaw: The Bonn conference concluded successfully on 5 December with an agreement on a power- sharing transitional government. We congratulate the Afghan participants and the United Nations, particularly the Secretary General's Special Representative, Mr. Brahimi, on this significant achievement which will, we believe be the first step towards a peaceful and stable Afghanistan. We have played an important role behind the scenes in encouraging the interested parties to strike a deal. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has had a number of conversations with key figures to this end, the British Office in Kabul has engaged directly with United Front leaders, and a senior diplomat, Robert Cooper, attended the Bonn conference. The Royal Air Force facilitated the travel of some of the delegates from Kabul.

Afghanistan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Russian Government on its decision to place troops within Afghanistan.

Ben Bradshaw: We are not aware of any decision by the Russian Government to place troops within Afghanistan. The Russian personnel who have been deployed there are from the Emergency Situations Ministry (EMERCOM) and are setting up medical facilities and a humanitarian centre. The United States, through CENTCOM, were aware of their inbound flights.

Visas

George Mudie: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many appeals have been lodged since October 2000 by overseas visitors against refusal of visas; of these, how many have requested (a) oral and (b) written appeals; and what is the success rate in both categories.

Rosie Winterton: I have been asked to reply.
	The Immigration Appellate Authority has received 4,040 family visit visa appeals in the period from 2 October 2000 to 31 October 2001. Of that total, 1,982 appeals were received for an oral hearing and 2,058 for a determination on the papers alone.
	The success rate of appeals determined by an Adjudicator over the same period is as follows:
	Oral cases—73 per cent. successful
	Paper cases—38 per cent. successful.
	The Immigration Appeal Tribunal (IAT), the higher tier of the Authority, has received 110 substantive appeals. Of these, 13 were for oral hearing and 97 for determination on the papers alone.
	The success rate of appeals determined by the IAT is as follows:
	Oral cases—75 per cent.
	Paper cases—81 per cent.

SCOTLAND

Petrol Prices

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations she has received over (a) the retail price of petrol distributed through the oil companies' own forecourts and (b) the wholesale price for petrol charged to independent retailers of fuel.

Helen Liddell: holding answer 15 October 2001
	The price of motor fuel is a subject on which I receive a considerable amount of correspondence from many parts of the community. However I have not received any substantive representations on the issue referred to by the hon. Member.
	If the wholesale or retail price for petrol raises competition concerns it should be brought to the attention of the Director General of Fair Trading, who is responsible for investigating allegations of anti-competitive behaviour.
	The Director General has investigated differential pricing by oil companies and has found that the competition legislation has not been breached.
	As a result of concerns which have been expressed about the operation of the fuel market in those areas, the Office of Fair Trading undertook investigations in the Highlands and Islands and Western Isles, covering a range of matters, including information regarding the wholesale and retail pricing of fuel.
	The OFT published reports in July last year and October this year, which concluded that, in the Highlands and Islands area as a whole and also in the Western Isles, there was no evidence of any sustained widening of pump price differentials as compared with the rest of the UK.

Special Advisers and Press Officers

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many (a) special advisers and (b) press officers were employed (i) full time, (ii) part time and (iii) on a contract basis by her Department in each year since 1992.

Helen Liddell: In the former Scottish Office there were two full-time special advisers in post as any one time in the financial years 1992–93 to 1997–98 and three in 1998–99. The number of press officers employed was as follows:
	
		
			 Year Number 
		
		
			 1992–93 29 
			 1993–94 28.5 
			 1994–95 29.5 
			 1995–96 28.5 
			 1996–97 29.5 
			 1997–98 30 
			 1998–99 33 
		
	
	The Scotland Office was established in its present form on 1 July 1999. In 1999–2000 and 2000–01, there were three special advisers in post at any one time (one unpaid). The Department currently has two special advisers. Since 1 July 1999, the Department has had four press officers.

Departmental Properties

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if she will estimate the total running costs for buildings used, owned or rented by her Department for each nation and region of the UK, and estimate the average cost per square metre for properties used by her Department as a whole, and by region and nation of the UK.

Helen Liddell: The estimated running costs for the buildings rented by my Department in Scotland for 2001–02 is £742,000. The running costs for the Department's building in London is estimated to be £571,000.
	The estimated average cost per square metre for properties occupied by the Department is £294; this comprises £352 per square metre in Scotland and £242 per square metre in London.

Housing Debt

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland under what Treasury heading, and by what mechanism, moneys would be paid by HM Treasury to (a) the City of Glasgow council and (b) the Scottish Executive for the clearance of overhanging housing debt in the event of a Glasgow residents' vote in favour of the current housing stock transfer proposals; and if she will make a statement.

Helen Liddell: If the current Glasgow housing stock transfer proposals are agreed, my Department will provide appropriate additional funding to the Scottish Executive as part of the block grant for devolved services. It will then be for the Executive to make appropriate arrangements with the city of Glasgow council. The proposals in relation to housing debt in Scotland where a stock transfer takes place are on the same lines as the arrangements in England and Wales.

Foot and Mouth

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much of the cost to the economy of foot and mouth disease has been incurred in (a) Scotland and (b) Dumfries and Galloway.

Helen Liddell: holding answer 3 December 2001
	In March 2001, the Scottish Executive formed an Economic Impact Assessment Group to collect evidence for decisions on relief and recovery measures following the outbreak of foot and mouth disease.
	A reliable assessment of the final cost of the foot and mouth disease cannot be made until the Impact Assessment Group, in collaboration with Whitehall and the other devolved Administrations, completes its assessment, in summer next year.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Communications Data

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many requests last year there were by the Metropolitan Police of (a) British Telecom and (b) other private sector communications organisations for information in respect of communications traffic data.

John Denham: holding answer 4 December 2001
	The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis informs me that between November 2000 and November 2001 the Metropolitan Police Service made an estimated (a) 10,500 requests of British Telecom and (b) 13,000 of other private sector communications organisations.

Firearms

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many illegally-held firearms were (a) recovered other than by seizure and (b) seized by police forces, in each year since 1990.

John Denham: holding answer 4 December 2001
	Information about illegal firearms seized by police forces is not collected centrally. During the firearms amnesty in 1996, nearly 23,000 firearms were surrendered to the police, but not all of these would have been illegally held.

Firearms

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will extend the scope of section 1 of the Firearms Act 1968 to include airguns.

John Denham: High powered air rifles (those with a muzzle energy greater than twelve foot pounds) are already subject to the control of section 1 of the Act. High powered air pistols (those with a muzzle energy greater than six foot pounds) are prohibited under the terms of section 5(1)(aba).
	The Government do not believe that a certification regime for low powered air weapons would be justified. It would be costly to introduce, would be cumbersome to operate and would impose a considerable administrative burden on already stretched police firearms licensing departments.

Regulation of Investigatory Powers Tribunal

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what (a) financial, (b) personal and (c) administrative resources are available to the regulation of investigatory powers tribunal to enable it to undertake its work.

Bob Ainsworth: holding answer 4 December 2001
	For the financial year 2000–02, £167,000 has been budgeted for the investigatory powers tribunal. This includes Secretariat staff salaries, fees and expenses for tribunal members and salary for one Commissioner. The Secretariat to the tribunal consists of few officials and a part-legally qualified Registrar.

Prisoner Data

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of (a) men and (b) women in prison in England and Wales on 10 June in each of the past three years were jailed for (i) fine default and (ii) drug offences related to personal use.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 4 December 2001
	The information requested is given in the tables.
	The proportion of males and females in prisons in England and Wales who were jailed for fine default is as follows:
	
		Percentage 
		
			   As at 30 June  
			1999  2000  2000 
		
		
			 Proportion of Males 0.16 0.14 0.07 
			 Proportion of females 0.16 0.21 0.05 
		
	
	Information on drug offences is given for all types of drug offence. The proportion of males and females in prison in England and Wales who were sentenced for drug offences is as follows:
	
		Percentage 
		
			   As at 30 June  
			   1999 2000 2001 
		
		
			 Males
			 Unlawful Supply 4.0 4.2 4.4 
			 Possession with intent to supply 3.5 3.5 3.6 
			 Possession 0.9 1.0 0.9 
			 Unlawful import/ export 3.0 3.1 3.3 
			 Other drug offences 0.3 0.2 0.2 
			 All drug offences 11.6 12.0 12.4 
			 
			 Females
			 Unlawful supply 5.8 6.9 7.0 
			 Possession with intent to supply 4.9 4.7 5.2 
			 Possession 1.2 1.1 0.9 
			 Unlawful import/ export 15.1 15.1 16.7 
			 Other drug offences 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 All drug offences 27.1 28.2 30.0

Downview Prison

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many occupants of Downview prison have been transferred (a) to more secure category prisons or (b) out of the south-east in the last 12 months.

Beverley Hughes: The exact information requested is not available. In preparation for the change of role of Downview to a women's prison, 340 male prisoners were moved from the establishment between 17 July and 1 September. No prisoners were moved out of the south-east, and none had their security category increased, as part of this process.

Downview Prison

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what rehabilitation and education programmes were being run at HMP Downview on 17 July; how many prisoners were on each programme; and where those prisoners completed their programmes.

Beverley Hughes: The available information will take some time to compile. I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library.

Electronic Tagging

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many electronically tagged offenders there are (a) in the UK, (b) within Teesside and (c) within Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East constituency.

Beverley Hughes: As at midnight on 30 November 2001, a total of 3,527 persons were electronically tagged in England and Wales. 28 were within Teesside, and five of these were within Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East constituency.

Stalkers

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures have been taken in the past five years to strengthen the protection from stalkers available for women.

Keith Bradley: holding answer 28 November 2001
	The Protection from Harassment Act came into force in June 1997. The Act not only protects women from stalking, but all those subjected to repetitive and alarming or distressing behaviour, among others: children from bullies, victims of domestic violence and witnesses from intimidation.

Police Authorities (Civilian Staff)

Michael Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many civilian staff were employed by each police authority in England in each year since 1979 (a) in total and (b) per head of population.

John Denham: The information requested is readily available only since 1989. A table has been placed in the Library which shows the answer in the form of population per officer.

Police Numbers

Michael Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) police officers and (b) operational police officers per head of population there are in each police authority in England.

John Denham: The information requested is set out in the table in the form of population per police officer. Operational officers are defined by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary as any member of staff, including covert staff, whose primary role (ie over 50 per cent. of their time) is directly to deliver the overarching aims of the police service. To 'directly deliver', the role must involve routine and immediate interface (either face to face or by telephone) with the public, including covert operations; staff in such roles can be considered as front line service providers.
	
		
			 Police force Population per police officer(10) Population per operational police officer(10)  
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 507 531 
			 Bedfordshire 543 595 
			 Cambridgeshire 559 643 
			 Cheshire 491 555 
			 Cleveland 395 433 
			 Cumbria 469 496 
			 Derbyshire 534 609 
			 Devon and Cornwall 535 566 
			 Dorset 511 540 
			 Durham 380 423 
			 Essex 560 583 
			 Gloucestershire 479 542 
			 Greater Manchester 373 403 
			 Hampshire 518 547 
			 Hertfordshire 543 587 
			 Humberside 460 498 
			 Kent 478 544 
			 Lancashire 438 476 
			 Leicestershire 460 501 
			 Lincolnshire 523 559 
			 London(11) 285 325 
			 Merseyside 344 380 
			 Norfolk 561 626 
			 Northamptonshire 537 576 
			 Northumbria 368 404 
			 North Yorkshire 573 605 
			 Nottinghamshire 467 490 
			 South Yorkshire 407 467 
			 Staffordshire 498 581 
			 Suffolk 595 618 
			 Surrey 522 614 
			 Sussex 531 613 
			 Thames Valley 571 608 
			 Warwickshire 548 627 
			 West Mercia 585 684 
			 West Midlands 354 403 
			 West Yorkshire 439 461 
			 Wiltshire 545 590 
			 England 416 472 
		
	
	(10) Full time equivalents
	(11) Figures for the City of London and Metropolitan police have been combined
	Notes:
	1. Population figures are as at mid 1999 and are provided by the Office for National Statistics
	2. Police numbers figures are as at 31 March 2001 (Home Office Statistical Bulletin—Police Service Strength)

Public Service Agreements

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress towards the public service agreement target concerning the model to assess the levels and routes of supply of drugs within prisons.

Beverley Hughes: The scope of this work has now been agreed and the project is under way, with a provisional completion date of June 2002.

Public Service Agreements

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress towards the public service agreement target for the efficiency of the Probation Service in (a) 2000–01 and (b) 2001–02.

Beverley Hughes: Analysis of the currently available financial information indicates that the Probation Service achieved an estimated efficiency saving of 0.6 per cent. in 2000–01, against the target of 4 per cent. This followed estimated savings of 17 per cent. during the three year period from 1995–96 to 1998–99, significantly above the target requirement. The reduction in the level of estimated savings between 1995–96 to 1998–99 and 1999–2000 to 2000–01 recognised the substantial additional investment provided to the Probation Service from 1998 to secure and improve effective service delivery.
	The public service agreement target for the National Probation Service in 2001–02 is 3 per cent. The National Probation Service has issued efficiency savings targets to each of the 42 local probation boards for 2001–02. Boards are required to include a statement of their proposed efficiency savings in their annual plan. Boards are also being required to report on their achievement of efficiency savings targets for 2001–02.
	The National Probation Service recognises that the achievement of efficiency savings is critically important and it is also vital to have proper arrangements for measuring efficiency savings. The National Probation Service is therefore committed to developing a new comprehensive model to measure efficiency savings that takes into account the very considerable changes that are being made to the arrangements for dealing with offenders, such as the introduction of accredited programmes.

Public Service Agreements

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on progress towards the Public Service Agreement target for completions of accredited offender behaviour programmes in prison;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on progress towards the Public Service Agreement target for completions of accredited offender behaviour programmes for sex offenders.

Beverley Hughes: The Public Service Agreement target for completions of accredited offender behaviour programmes in prison was published in 'Public Services for the Future: Modernisation, Reform, Accountability'. The target was to increase the number of completions of accredited offender behaviour programmes run by the Prison Service from 3,000 to 6,000 a year by 2001–02, including an increase from 680 to 1,100 in those completing sex offender programmes.
	Completions of offending behaviour and sex offender treatment programmes are key performance indicators for the Prison Service. Performance for the period 1999–2002 is listed in the table.
	
		
			  Offending behaviour programmes Sex offender treatment programmes 
		
		
			 1999–2000 4,664 585 
			 2000–01 5,986 786 
			 2001–02(12) 2,613 164 
		
	
	(12) Performance for the year 2001–02 is for the period April 2001–October 2001. These data are provisional and subject to change.
	Data on accredited offending behaviour programmes and other key performance indicators are published in the Prison Service annual report and accounts and Her Majesty's Prison Service Corporate and Business Plan.

Public Service Agreements

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on progress towards the public service agreement target of reducing violent crime against vulnerable groups;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on progress towards the public service agreement target in respect of domestic violence.

John Denham: There are no specific public service agreements to reduce domestic violence or to reduce violent crime against vulnerable groups, but as part of the Government's determination to reduce violent crime overall we are committed to taking steps to tackle the problem of violence against all sectors of the community.
	Between 1999 and 2000 the British Crime Survey shows that the number of violent crimes has decreased significantly, by 19 per cent. The survey shows a 34 per cent. decrease in the incidents of domestic violence over that period.
	We have taken a number of steps to address domestic violence including issuing a new Home Office circular to the police, issuing multi-agency guidance for addressing domestic violence, and providing over £10 million funding under the Crime Reduction Programme to the Violence Against Women initiative. Further consideration is currently being given across government as to what further strategic measures are needed to ensure there is adequate provision for domestic violence survivors, the Criminal Justice System response to domestic violence is robust and effective, and to reduce incidents of domestic violence and repeat victimisation.
	We have also taken steps to strengthen the protection of children as part of our major reform of the law on sex offences, and to target hate crime with new racially aggravated offences and legislation to ensure that the courts treat evidence of racial hostility as a factor in sentencing.

Public Service Agreements

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress towards the public service agreement target for the Crime Reduction Programme.

John Denham: There is no specific public service agreement (PSA) target for the Crime Reduction Programme. However a number of the initiatives being funded under the programme contribute towards the PSA targets for reducing domestic burglary, robbery and vehicle crime, as well as contributing to a reduction in the fear of crime.

Offending Behaviour Programme

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the cost in 2001–02 of the Accredited Offending Behaviour Programme.

Beverley Hughes: In 2001–02, the cost of developing and implementing accredited offending behaviour programmes in the community is projected to be £44 million. £15.3 million of this came from the 2000 Spending Review settlement, with the remaining £28.7 million coming from efficiency savings as a result of replacing old programmes with the new, accredited ones.

Prison Population

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the prison population for each prison; and what overcrowding there is in each prison.

Beverley Hughes: The total population and number of overcrowded prisoners in each establishment at the end of October is listed in the table. Data are provisional and subject to validation by prisons.
	
		
			 Prison name Population Total overcrowding 
		
		
			 Acklington 761 0 
			 Albany 443 0 
			 Altcourse 817 0 
			 Ashfield 397 0 
			 Ashwell 378 0 
			 Askham Grange 128 0 
			 Aylesbury 343 0 
			 Bedford 435 172 
			 Belmarsh 839 345 
			 Birmingham 840 120 
			 Blakenhurst 839 186 
			 Blantyre House 116 0 
			 Blundeston 420 0 
			 Brinsford 452 76 
			 Bristol 612 90 
			 Brixton 760 242 
			 Brockhill 156 0 
			 Buckley Hall 385 0 
			 Bullingdon 884 303 
			 Bullwood Hall 173 0 
			 Camp Hill 520 230 
			 Canterbury 292 220 
			 Cardiff 666 534 
			 Castington 322 0 
			 Channings Wood 580 8 
			 Chelmsford 456 84 
			 Coldingley 364 0 
			 Cookham Wood 146 46 
			 Dartmoor 574 0 
			 Deerbolt 383 0 
			 Doncaster 1,080 638 
			 Dorchester 255 150 
			 Dovegate 585 0 
			 Dover 190 0 
			 Downview 144 0 
			 Drake Hall 229 0 
			 Durham 709 320 
			 East Sutton Park 95 0 
			 Eastwood Park 320 66 
			 Elmley 936 236 
			 Erlestoke 316 0 
			 Everthorpe 465 64 
			 Exeter 478 348 
			 Featherstone 589 0 
			 Feltham 653 0 
			 Ford 444 0 
			 Forest Bank 840 0 
			 Foston Hall 213 0 
			 Frankland 645 0 
			 Full Sutton 583 0 
			 Garth 593 0 
			 Gartree 285 0 
			 Glen Parva 798 432 
			 Gloucester 296 166 
			 Grendon 453 0 
			 Guys Marsh 504 66 
			 Haslar 155 0 
			 Hatfield 167 0 
			 Haverigg 545 0 
			 Hewell Grange 169 0 
			 High Down 704 174 
			 Highpoint 873 0 
			 Hindley 439 0 
			 Hollesley Bay 335 0 
			 Holloway 498 0 
			 Holme House 929 118 
			 Hull 578 0 
			 Huntercombe 328 0 
			 Kingston 183 0 
			 Kirkham 515 0 
			 Kirklevington 165 0 
			 Lancaster 229 0 
			 Lancaster Farms 536 92 
			 Latchmere House 167 0 
			 Leeds 1,228 898 
			 Leicester 353 320 
			 Lewes 468 28 
			 Leyhill 369 0 
			 Lincoln 537 318 
			 Lindholme 611 0 
			 Littlehey 628 28 
			 Liverpool 1,395 488 
			 Long Lartin 406 0 
			 Low Newton 284 90 
			 Lowdham Grange 482 0 
			 Maidstone 366 0 
			 Manchester 1,188 744 
			 Moorland 757 40 
			 Morton Hall 182 0 
			 Mount 729 80 
			 New Hall 375 72 
			 North Sea Camp 179 0 
			 Norwich 740 364 
			 Nottingham 508 228 
			 Onley 531 0 
			 Parc 860 0 
			 Parkhurst 422 0 
			 Pentonville 1,159 402 
			 Portland 469 0 
			 Preston 550 440 
			 Ranby 719 96 
			 Reading 246 170 
			 Risley 791 34 
			 Rochester 239 0 
			 Rye Hill 597 0 
			 Send 219 0 
			 Shepton Mallet 172 0 
			 Shrewsbury 331 294 
			 Stafford 625 0 
			 Standford Hill 323 0 
			 Stocken 573 52 
			 Stoke Heath 543 0 
			 Styal 420 12 
			 Sudbury 506 0 
			 Swaleside 745 0 
			 Swansea 329 240 
			 Swinfen Hall 313 0 
			 Thorn Cross 229 0 
			 Usk 327 178 
			 Verne 567 40 
			 Wakefield 561 0 
			 Wandsworth 1,361 480 
			 Wayland 640 52 
			 Wealstun 618 0 
			 Weare 386 0 
			 Wellingborough 500 0 
			 Werrington 113 0 
			 Wetherby 328 0 
			 Whatton 265 0 
			 Whitemoor 397 0 
			 Winchester 570 290 
			 Wolds 405 0 
			 Woodhill 675 100 
			 Wormwood Scrubs 964 0 
			 Wymott 793 0 
		
	
	Source:
	Figures for Northhallerton are currently not available
	Overcrowding includes prisoners held two to a cell designed for one, those held three in a cell designed for two and those overcrowded in larger dormitories and other accommodation units where population exceeds the uncrowded capacity.
	Overcrowding is not evenly dispersed across the prison estate; it is particularly concentrated in local prisons. Local prisons are those which serve the courts of a specific area.
	The Prison Service key performance indicator on overcrowding measures the number of prisoners held two to a cell designed for one. The target for this financial year is not to exceed 18 per cent. of the average population. The provisional April 2001 to October 2001 performance is better than target and stands at 16.9 per cent.

Merseyside Police

Shaun Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there were in Merseyside police in each year since 1992.

John Denham: holding answer 3 December 2001
	The information requested is given in the table.
	
		
			 Year as at 31 March 2001 Police officers(13) Civilian support staff(13) 
		
		
			 1992 4,621 1,578 
			 1993 4,669 1,625 
			 1994 4,693 1,639 
			 1995 4,659 1,595 
			 1996 4,411 1,560 
			 1997 4,230 1,343 
			 1998 4,216 1,502 
			 1999 4,211 1,356 
			 2000 4,085 1,458 
			 2001 4,081 1,418 
		
	
	(13) Full time equivalents
	I understand that the Merseyside police has a budgeted work force total of 4,272 officers for 31 March 2002.

Special Hospitals

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the implementation of the recommendations of the Tilt report concerning security at special hospitals and the amount of money so far spent on implementation by his Department.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 22 November 2001
	Responsibility for special hospitals lies with the Department of Health. I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Health on 22 November 2001, Official Report, column 418W.

Police Shootings

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the Police Complaints Authority review of police shootings since 1998 will take into consideration the need for appropriate procedures when the potential aggressor is known by the police to suffer from a mental disorder.

John Denham: The terms of reference set by the Home Secretary for the review does not prescribe specific areas for consideration; it sets the coverage as all shootings by the police since 1998 that resulted in death or injury. However, the terms of reference do include the planning, control and conduct of these operations.
	There is guidance from the Association of Chief Police Officers that firearms officers should take account of when called to deal with a situation involving a person with a mental disorder. If any of the cases under review did involve such a person then the Police Complaints Authority will consider the appropriateness of this guidance to the situation, how well it was followed and its affect on the planning, control and conduct of the operation and will make recommendations.

Police Training

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what training is given by police forces in England and Wales to help their officers deal with mental health crises.

John Denham: The basic training received by all recruits to the police service includes an element designed to raise awareness of mental illness and to highlight the importance of communicating effectively and sensitively with people suffering from a mental disorder. Individual forces also provide further training for their officers on these issues. Details are not held centrally of such local provision.

Best Value

Malcolm Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will estimate the cost in the latest available year of the best value regime to (a) his Department and (b) police authorities.

John Denham: The best estimate of costs falling to the Home Office in 2000–01 is in the region of £500,000. This covers estimated staff time based on average salary costs. It also includes travelling and subsistence costs for Her Majesty's Inspectors of Constabulary when they are carrying out best value inspections.
	The costs of implementing best value, which falls to police authorities, is not collected centrally.

Stolen Vehicles

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many stolen vehicles have been recovered through use of the Schengen Information System.

John Denham: None. Article 100 of the Schengen Convention relating to data on motor vehicles which have been stolen, misappropriated or lost has not yet been implemented.

Credit Card Fraud

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what guidance he gives to credit card issuers on reporting credit card fraud;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the level of under-reporting of credit card fraud in each of the last five years;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of credit card fraud in each of the last five years (a) by level and (b) by number of incidents.

John Denham: No Home Office guidance is given to credit card issuers on reporting credit card fraud. However, I understand that the Association of Chief Police Officers' National Working Party on Cheque and Card Fraud has agreed guidelines on reporting cheque and payment card fraud to the police to encourage best practice in combating credit card fraud.
	No estimates of the level of under reporting of credit card fraud have been made by the Government. However, a National Economic Research Associates Report commissioned by the Home Office recognised under reporting of all frauds.
	Information on the number of offences of cheque and credit card fraud recorded by the police is available for the last two financial years only, as follows:
	
		
			 Year Number 
		
		
			 1999–2000 173,857 
			 2000–01 148,252 
		
	
	The Association of Payment Clearing Services has estimated the cost of reported losses due to credit card fraud over the last four years as:
	
		
			 Year £ million 
		
		
			 1997 122.0 
			 1998 135.0 
			 1999 188.4 
			 2000 292.6 
		
	
	Source:
	APACS Fraud in Focus 2001

Proof of Age Card

Gisela Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will give approval for a proof of age card in a standardised format.

John Denham: The Government have no plans to develop a standard format for a proof of age card or to introduce a single national proof of age scheme. The Government welcome the recent initiative by the British Retail Consortium proposing to develop agreed standard design criteria and methods of accreditation for the various proof of age cards which currently exist so that retailers can be assured of the status of the cards presented to them.

Court Appearances

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time was between arrest and court appearance of a person charged with an offence in England or Wales in the last 12 months.

Michael Wills: I have been asked to reply.
	It is not possible to provide figures for the average time between arrest and court appearance as details of arrest dates are not collected. I am, however, able to provide figures for the average number of days between charge and first listing, the first appearance in court, for all defendants charged with indictable cases for the period September 2000 to September 2001.
	The figures are taken from the Magistrates Courts Time Intervals Survey, which is published quarterly by the Lord Chancellor's Department.
	
		
			  Survey date Average number of days from charge to first listing 
		
		
			 September 2000 6 
			 December 2000 5 
			 March 2001 6 
			 June 2001 6 
			 September 2001 6

HEALTH

Commission for Health Improvement

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the change in expenditure and manpower that will result from the CHI's proposed new functions.

John Hutton: holding answer 22 November 2001
	Any significant change in expenditure and manpower resulting from the Commission for Health Improvement's proposed new functions will be assessed in the context of decisions on budgets for next year which will be announced in due course.

Digital Hearing Aids

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to share with the Scottish Executive the interim evaluation results of the 20 First Wave NHS trusts that are providing digital hearing aids.

Jacqui Smith: Officials from the Department are in regular contact with officials in the Scottish Executive and the results of the evaluation will be made available to them.

Stem Cells

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received on the operation of commercial services to members of the public to collect and freeze blood from umbilical cords with a view to stem cell use to treat children later in life; and what proposals he has to regulate commercial firms offering these services.

John Hutton: holding answer 29 November 2001
	Informal representations have been received from commercial cord blood banks and numbers of concerned health professionals. The Department has implemented an accreditation scheme to ensure the safety and quality of traditional human tissues that are supplied to the national health service via tissue banks. Measures needed to regulate emerging technologies such as stem cell technology are being kept under review by the Department.

Patient Consultations

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department has issued on the recommended average length of patient consultation times with (a) general practitioners and (b) hospital consultants.

John Hutton: holding answer 29 November 2001
	The Department does not issue guidance on how long general practitioners or hospital consultants should spend on consultations. It is up to clinical judgment how long they should spend on a consultation, as patients' needs differ on an individual basis.

Housing

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanism is used to reallocate health funding to effect changes in population levels predicted in the Government's housing targets.

John Hutton: holding answer 30 November 2001
	The populations used to calculate health authority allocation targets are based on Office for National Statistics population projections. These are updated to take account of trends in births, deaths and migration.
	Decisions on the level of housing required are for local planning authorities. Trends in population growth are taken into account when these decisions are taken. Issues concerning the provision of housing are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions.

Correspondence

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many and what proportion of letters received by his Department between 20 June and 20 July were replied to (a) in under 15, (b) in under 20, (c) in under 30, (d) in under 40 and (e) in over 40 working days;
	(2)  how many letters his Department received from hon. and right hon. Members between 20 June and 20 July.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 3 December 2001
	The information requested is shown in the tables.
	
		Replies—20 June to 20 July
		
			 Replies sent within Number of replies Percentage 
		
		
			 Ministerial replies:   
			 15 days 527 34 
			 20 days 436 28 
			 30 days 202 13 
			 40 days 186 12 
			 Over 40 days 202 13 
			  
			 Total (14)1,553 100 
			
			 Official replies:   
			 15 days 1,581 67 
			 20 days 379 16 
			 30 days 264 11 
			 40 days 67 3 
			 Over 40 days 74 3 
			  
			 Total (15)2,365 100 
		
	
	(14) In addition 199 letters were transferred to other Government Departments or no reply required.
	(15) In addition 250 letters were transferred to other Government Departments or no reply required.

Pathology Services

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health where pathology services will be placed in the new NHS structures under the NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Bill.

John Hutton: holding answer 5 December 2001
	In future primary care trusts will commission pathology services alongside other services. Pathology services are currently provided by national health service trusts. Through the Pathology Modernisation Programme, the Department is currently working with the NHS to develop a planning guide for pathology modernisation. As part of this process, we are considering the appropriate model for pathology services in the light of "Shifting the Balance of Power" and the proposed changes to NHS structures under the NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Bill. We aim to issue these proposals for wide consultation in spring 2002.

NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Bill

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if draft orders emanating from the NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Bill will be published before 18 December.

John Hutton: holding answer 5 December 2001
	No. These orders will be drafted in due course.

Health Service Standards

Michael Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on which health services he defines as world class, indicating what their characteristics are.

John Hutton: The NHS Plan and the National Service Frameworks set out our vision for the high quality service we intend to deliver. The 10 core principles reflected in the NHS Plan are set out in the preface to the document.

Nurses Pay

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the average weekly earnings of a qualified nurse in 2001–02.

John Hutton: The average weekly earnings of a full-time qualified nurse working in the national health service, including all additional payments and allowances, in 2001–02 are estimated to be £450.
	Source:
	Department of Health's August 2000 NHS earnings survey.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Violence Statistics

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list those persons who have (a) died and (b) been injured in suspicious circumstances since the Belfast Agreement was concluded, indicating which are (i) known to be as a result of terrorist or paramilitary activity and (ii) known not to be as a result of terrorist or paramilitary activity.

Jane Kennedy: The police do not keep information on people categorised as injured in suspicious circumstances. Listed are the statistics on deaths and injuries as a result of the security situation since 10 April 1998.
	There have been 76 deaths and 4,558 injuries as a result of the security situation since 10 April 1998. A breakdown of the injuries is as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 RUC 1,836 
			 Army 140 
			 Civilian 2,582 
			  
			 Total 4,558 
		
	
	The causes of the injuries were:
	
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 Explosions 13 
			 Shootings (mainly paramilitary type) 11 
			 Assaults (paramilitary style beatings) 11 
			 Others (mainly public disorder) 65 
			  
			 Total 100

Police Service of Northern Ireland

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the implications are for other recruits in the event of Catholic recruits to the Police Service of Northern Ireland failing to complete recruit training.

Jane Kennedy: There are no implications for other recruits in the event that Catholic recruits fail to complete training. The 50:50 requirement applies only to the appointment of recruits. It does not apply after police trainees have taken their place on the training course.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

BSE

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  when she first learned of Professor Bostock's concerns about the possible contamination of samples of sheeps' brains on which tests were being conducted for evidence of BSE;
	(2)  how many checks were made, and on what date, into whether samples of brain matter collected in the 1990s and investigated by the Institute of Animal Health in relation to BSE in sheep contained bovine material.

Margaret Beckett: holding answer 26 October 2001
	It has been known since the experiments began that there were some doubts about whether the brains involved could be cross-contaminated with bovine material. The sheep brains used in the study were not collected under the stringent sterile procedures normally used for such material. the possibility of contamination was raised by Professor Bostock and discussed by the Spongeform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee in February 2000. It was recognised in the public statement made by the Food Standards Agency on 2 August 2001, which explained that the possibility of contamination of the samples with BSE infected cow brains needed further investigation.
	DEFRA first approached an independent laboratory asking if they would be able to conduct tests to determine whether the scrapie brain pool (collected in the early 1990s and used in the Institute of Animal Health experiment) contained bovine material in June 2001. Results of the work were reported to DEFRA on 17 October.

Foot and Mouth

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list by county the number of applications for livestock movement licences under the foot and mouth disease control restrictions made during the periods (a) 1 March to 30 May, (b) 1 June to 31 August and (c) 1 September to date; and how many licences were issued in the same periods.

Elliot Morley: The number of applications for livestock movement licences under foot and mouth disease controls and licences issued for the periods involved are available in the Library of the House. Table 1 covers the period 1 March to 17 September 2001 when licences were issued primarily for slaughter and for welfare reasons. Table 2 covers the period 17 September to 28 November 2001 for licences issued under the Autumn Movements Arrangements.
	The differences between the numbers of applications received and number of licences issued, is partly due to some applications being withdrawn and partly because the licensing procedures are a combination of manually and computerised processing.

Foot and Mouth

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will publish the information given in the letter of 4 August from the Under-Secretary of State to the hon. Member for Vale of York concerning the bases on which premises subject to foot and mouth culling are decided and the advice given to farmers on cleaning of fields (refs 4430, 4431).

Elliot Morley: My letter of 4 August provided the following information:
	"On 12 July you tabled two parliamentary questions which I was unable to reply to before the House rose for summer recess. You asked on what basis are premises subject to contingency foot and mouth culling decided and what advice is given to farmers on how to clean a field that has held infected livestock.
	I am sorry that I was unable to reply, but had I done so, I would have said any decision to cull animals is based on the following criteria:
	All foot and mouth susceptible animals (normally cattle, sheep, pigs and goats) on a farm where foot and mouth disease is confirmed either on clinical grounds or laboratory tests (an Infected Premise) should be slaughtered within 24 hours of the infection being reported.
	Susceptible livestock on farms adjoining an Infected Premises (Contiguous Premises) should be culled within 48 hours although local vets have some discretion not to slaughter cattle or rare breeds of sheep or pigs if it is considered that the level of biosecurity on the contiguous premises means that the risk of the animals having been exposed to foot and mouth infection is very low.
	Animals which have been in contact with infected stock in some way, either directly, indirectly or which are on premises which have been exposed to infection are traced and slaughtered as dangerous contacts.
	Susceptible livestock are also slaughtered where animals show signs which suggest foot and mouth disease is present but which are not sufficiently consistent with the signs of FMD to confirm the diagnosis on clinical grounds. In such cases, samples are submitted to the laboratory and animals on contiguous premises are not culled unless a positive laboratory test is obtained.
	The following procedures should be applied to fields and pastures used by susceptible animals on an infected premises.
	Items likely to attract vermin or scavenging animals must be removed from the land and either destroyed or soaked in disinfectant.
	The land should be cleared of all equipment and structures (e.g. troughs, arks, temporary fencing etc.) and left for 42 days to enable maximum exposure of any surface contamination to the environment.
	Land that had been grazed by susceptible stock, where possible, be harrowed to break down and disperse waste material e.g. dung.
	The cleansing and disinfection of the paddock(s) or land can then be considered complete. However, re-contamination of pastures by vehicles, personnel etc. is feasible unless they follow the biosecurity measures when they leave the other parts of the premises that have not been cleansed and disinfected.
	Detailed guidance in respect of individual premises is available to farmers through the local animal health office. In addition, general guidance on biosecurity is available on the DEFRA website."
	A copy of this letter was placed in the Library of the House.
	Our policy for the slaughter of animals suspected of being infected of foot and mouth has changed slightly. We have introduced a further category. This is for cases where the clinical picture on the farm suggests that disease is not present (i.e. there are insufficient grounds for slaughtering on suspicion the entire herd/flock) but where we want to be sure we have not missed something. We have the option of placing the herd/flock under official movement restrictions while laboratory test are carried out.
	The advice on fields and pastures has not been updated.

Foot and Mouth

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will update and publish the information given in the letter of 8 August from the Under-Secretary of State to the hon. Member for Vale of York in response to questions concerning biosecurity measures in areas where culling takes place, closure of local roads and the impact of Thirsk Auction Mart (refs 4050, 4047, 4044, 4045, 4048, 4046).

Elliot Morley: My letter of 8 August provided the following information:
	"On 11 July you tabled 6 parliamentary questions which I was unable to reply to before the House rose for summer recess. You asked what representations had been received that those involved in the culls were not observing the strict biosecurity measures; what representations had been received on actions by officials on an infected site covered by biosecurity provisions, what criteria are used to decide on road closures in an infected zone; what measures will be taken to ensure that local roads are closed when culling is taking place; what assessment has been made of the impact on Thirsk Auction Mart of its closure as a collection centre; and what representations have been received on the three kilometre restriction zone from an infected area.
	The Government's key priority is to eradicate foot and mouth disease as quickly as possible and vigilance and high standards of biosecurity are crucial. It is therefore imperative that DEFRA staff are seen to be applying good biosecurity measures at all times and at every available opportunity officials are reminded of this. Any breaches will be treated with the utmost seriousness.
	A number of allegations have been made that recommended biosecurity measures have been breached by DEFRA officials. All such allegations are investigated. So far most cases have been found either to be groundless or to be lacking in sufficient detail to enable a thorough investigation.
	One case was proven where animal parts were left on a holding. The site was subsequently fully cleared and the staff reminded of the vital importance of maintaining full biosecurity and thoroughness in performing culling operations. The Foot and Mouth Disease Order 1983 allows a Ministry or local authority inspector to prohibit the entry of any person onto any land or into any agricultural building that lies within an "infected" area. This power could be used to close roads. However, veterinary judgment has been that, except in very rare cases, to do so would be disproportionate to the risk involved. Such recommendations are normally based, for example on epidemiological assessment where a road passes through the middle of an infected premise that has not yet been disinfected or where it is not possible to screen a cull from the public's view.
	Nonetheless, to ensure that inspectors have sufficient powers to control the current outbreak, additional powers have been inserted in the Foot and Mouth Disease Order 1983 by the Foot and Mouth (Amendment) (England) (No 4) Order 2001 which would allow an inspector of the Ministry or a local authority (with prior written authority of the Minister) to close roads within a controlled area. It is a veterinary judgment as to whether a recommendation should be made to the local authority for a particular road to be closed pending a cull. This would happen if a road passed through or, particularly close to, an infected premise where culling was to occur and where there was no means of ensuring that the cull and all related activity could be screened from the public's view.
	No assessment has been made on the impact of closing the Thirsk Auction Mart as a collection centre. Responsibility for authorising collection centres rests with the local authority which in this case, is North Yorkshire county council. However to be licensed as a collection centre strict guidelines laid down by the State Veterinary Service must be met. The Thirsk Centre was no longer able to meet the required criteria owing to the outbreak of the disease in that area. The situation will be kept under review but Thirsk is now subject to tight biosecurity emergency procedures announced by my noble Friend Lord Whitty on 23 July.
	The three-kilometre zone (the Protection Zone) is required by EU legislation, and is based on scientific and veterinary advice and experience in dealing with this disease."
	A copy of my letter was placed in the Library of the House.
	Biosecurity remains an extremely important issue and there will need to be a continuing discussion with all interested parties on the lessons that need to be learned on disease prevention measures to be followed by those responsible for livestock. As regards the biosecurity observed by DEFRA staff during the outbreak, no further examples of breaches have been proven by our investigation.
	The disease situation is now much improved in Thirsk. North Yorkshire has had no outbreaks since 18 August although it remains an "at risk" county for the purposes of the Animal Movements Licensing Scheme. Thirsk Auction Mart was re-licensed as a collection centre on 4 October and operates as such on Mondays. For the remaining days of the week, except Sunday, it operates as a cleansing and disinfection centre.

SSSIs

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of sites of special scientific interest were in (a) good, (b) fair and (c) poor condition in (i) 1996, (ii) 1997, (iii) 1998, (iv) 1999, (v) 2000 and (vi) 2001.

Michael Meacher: Information on the condition of sites has been collected since April 1996. The features are assessed as being favourable; unfavourable but improving; unfavourable with no change; unfavourable and declining; and destroyed.
	English Nature reports on SSSI condition in its annual reports, copies of which are available in the House Library. Figures from the reports are set in the table.
	
		Percentage 
		
			 Year Favourable/ improving Good Unfavourable/ no change Fair Declining or destroyed Poor 
		
		
			 April 1996–March 1997 67.2 22.9 9.9 
			 April 1997–March 1998 72.0 15.7 12.3 
			 April 1998–March 1999 71.8 16.9 11.3 
			 April 1999–March 2000 58.8 29.6 11.6 
			 April 2000-March 2001 58.0 27.0 15.0 
		
	
	Nature conservation is a devolved matter, and the National Assembly and Scottish Parliament hold information for Wales and Scotland respectively.
	English Nature has a programme of monitoring SSSIs, which started in 1997. It will inspect each site at least once every six years. By March 2001, English Nature had inspected 66 per cent. of sites and assessed them against a common standard, giving the figure of 58 per cent. in good condition. Thus the figures for later years are more accurate than earlier estimates and do not necessarily show that actual deterioration has taken place. The programme of inspections was disrupted this year due to restrictions on access to land; however, English Nature plans to complete the cycle by the end of 2002–03 to give comprehensive data on all sites.
	The Department has adopted a public service agreement target of aiming to deliver 95 per cent. of SSSIs in favourable condition by 2010. This is a challenging target. Deterioration through neglect of management was addressed in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, and EN now has new tools available. We will also need to secure policy changes which will remove the causes of poor condition of sites, with the co-operation of other Government Departments.

Waste Management

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what impact impending EU legislation will have on the UK waste management strategy.

Michael Meacher: There are a number of EU Directives still in the developmental stage or in the process of being transposed into UK law, including those relating to End of Life Vehicles, Batteries, and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment, which will extend producer responsibilities. These should encourage producers and distributors to internalise costs of disposal and lead to more efficient use of resources.
	The EU Landfill Directive of 1999 requires us to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste sent to landfill to 75 per cent. of 1995 levels by 2010, 50 per cent. by 2013 and 35 per cent. by 2020.
	In order to achieve this, the national waste strategy, published in May 2000, prioritises waste minimisation, re-use and recycling. This year we have set challenging statutory recycling targets for each local authority to achieve and are supporting the delivery of these with additional funding, including a £140 million pot on which consultation is currently under way.

Livestock Industry (Wales)

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans the Government have to support the Welsh livestock industry.

Elliot Morley: This is a matter for the Minister for Rural Affairs at the National Assembly for Wales.

Bathing Water Directive

Jonathan Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact of the Bathing Water Directive on (a) rural beaches and (b) tourism policies.

Michael Meacher: Water quality has been improved considerably at both resort and rural beaches to meet the requirements of the Directive. Compliance with the Directive's main mandatory standards in England was 98 per cent. this year, compared with 79 per cent. in 1990. Of the 388 bathing waters in England which passed this year, around three-quarters are rural. The enhanced reputation of our beaches will enable more to obtain Blue Flags and Seaside Awards and make our coasts and seaside resorts even more attractive to the millions who visit every year.

White Goods

Jonathan Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what advice has been issued by her Department to consumers on buying fridges and freezers before the issue concerning the disposal of their ozone-damaging contents is resolved; and what action she is taking to prevent the dumping of fridges and freezers.

Michael Meacher: My Department has issued an information note for householders regarding the safe disposal routes for fridges and freezers. This will shortly be made widely available and can already be found on my Department's website. The information note is intended to reduce the likelihood of fly-tipping. The illegal disposal of waste on a site without a waste management licence or registered exemption is a criminal offence. Local authorities and the Environment Agency have powers to remove fly-tipped waste and to recover their costs from those responsible.

Hunting with Dogs

Michael Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact of the temporary cessation of hunting with dogs on the level of predation of livestock by foxes.

Alun Michael: There is no information collected centrally which could provide the basis for an answer to this question.

Portland Cement

Charlotte Atkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage the British manufacturers of Portland cement has agreed to improve their energy efficiency by 2010 under their climate change levy sector agreement.

Michael Meacher: The four major UK-based manufacturers of Portland cement constitute the climate change agreement with the British Cement Association. The cement sector target is to achieve specific primary energy consumption of 1.25kWh/kg of cement by 2010. This represents a 25.6 per cent. reduction from the 1990 performance of 1.68kWh/kg of cement.

Portland Cement

Charlotte Atkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which of the British producers of Portland cement have signed a climate change agreement; and what percentage of that industry sector they represent.

Michael Meacher: The following British producers of Portland cement have entered into the climate change agreement between the Secretary of State and the British Cement Association:
	Blue Circle Industries;
	Buxton Lime Industries Ltd.;
	Castle Cement Ltd.;
	The Rugby Group Ltd.
	These companies represent very nearly 100 per cent. of the UK Portland cement manufacturing sector.

Common Fisheries Policy

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the Government's fisheries policies, and in particular on the common fisheries policy of the EU.

Elliot Morley: Our primary objective for the Common Fisheries Policy must be for a policy which is both economically and environmentally sustainable and one which involves stakeholders more closely in management decisions affecting them. Only in that way will the CFP attract support and credibility from fishermen, ensure responsible stock management and give the promise of a viable future. I strongly agree with the Commission's conclusions in their Green Paper on the operation of the CFP that it is not meeting its objectives. It is failing to provide an adequate living for many fishermen and is failing to conserve fish stocks. The forthcoming review of the CFP will give the opportunity not only to put right what has gone wrong but also to consider how the CFP should develop over the coming years.

Livestock Markets

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects that livestock markets will be reopened.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 4 December 2001
	Some livestock markets have reopened in Scotland reflecting the lower number of FMD cases there. A decision to reopen livestock markets in England and Wales will be made in the light of scientific and veterinary advice on progress with the eradication of foot and mouth disease. It is not possible to give a precise date but it is expected to be in the early part of 2002, provided there are no further outbreaks.

Flood Defence

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many local authorities have completed their review of flood defence assets and provided that data to the Environment Agency.

Elliot Morley: I intend to publish this information once it has been validated.

Rural Initiatives

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her answer of 29 November 2001, Official Report, column 1090W, on rural affairs, how many people received support through the England Rural Development Programme in 2001–02, broken down by category and amount.

Alun Michael: Because applications are still being processed, figures on the number of new land-based agreements under the England Rural Development Programme (ERDP) in the current financial year are not available.
	My answer of 29 November 2001, Official Report, column 1090W, gave the number and value of agreements approved under the ERDP project based schemes since they were launched in October 2000. Of these, the equivalent figures for 1 April to 31 October 2001 are:
	
		
			 Scheme Number of agreements Total value of grant approved (£ million) 
		
		
			 Rural Enterprise Scheme 122 7.7 
			 Processing and Marketing Grant 17 4.8 
			 Vocational Training Scheme 21 1.0 
		
	
	ERDP agreements typically provide a wider environmental, economic and social benefit than is apparent from the payment of grant to a single individual or business. It is not possible however to quantify precisely the number of people who benefited indirectly from the ERDP.

Rural Initiatives

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her answer of 29 November 2001, Official Report, column 1091W, on rural affairs, which organisations received support through each scheme of the Vital Village Programme grants in 2001–02; and how much each received.

Alun Michael: Information on which organisations have received funding, and how much they have received under the Parish Plans Scheme and the Community Services Grant have already been lodged in the Library of the House. Details on which organisations have been offered funding under the Parish Transport Scheme are as follows:
	
		£ 
		
			 Description Grant offered 
		
		
			 Holy Island Parish Transport Grant 2,692 
			 Ellingham Travel Voucher Scheme 1,771 
			 Arkholme bike racks and bus shelter 7,909 
			 Melling with Wrayton Bus shelter 4,555 
			 Nuthall Community Bus 9,439 
			 Evergreen Club Transport 750 
			 Ryton On Dunsmore Community Bus 10,000 
			 Bicton Bus Shelter 2,372 
			 Rockland St. Mary (Year 1) 2,475 
			 Surlingham Rural Bus Service 7,524 
			 Ventnor Town Council Parish Scheme 5,800 
			 Feock Bus Shelter 4,403 
			 Winford Parish Transport Grant 450 
			 Blockley Hedgehog Bus service 1,864 
			  
			 Total 62,004

Rural Initiatives

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to introduce a rural equivalent of the Excellence in Cities scheme; and if she will make a statement.

Alun Michael: The Excellence in Cities scheme, which has been promoted by the Department for Education and Skills (DFES), is already being extended outside major cities, through the Excellence Clusters. These will tackle smaller areas of disadvantage, including some rural areas. By September 2002 there will be 24 clusters, including some serving areas in West Cumbria, County Durham and Lancashire. More clusters will be announced in subsequent years. Ministers and officials at DEFRA will strongly support the lead given by colleagues at DFES in spreading this excellent initiative to rural areas rather than establishing a new initiative in competition. We welcome the success of the Excellence in Cities initiative, which is designed to address disadvantage through a programme of support including learning mentors, learning support units and a programme for gifted and talented pupils, and the way the initiative focuses on the needs and aspirations of pupils and their parents. It currently involves 58 authorities and by 2003–04 some £300 million will be spent in EiC schools. The extension of the programme to Excellence Clusters started in September 2001. Excellence Clusters are smaller groups of schools outside major cities which work together to implement the EiC programme.

Veterinary Medicines

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action she is taking on the EU's proposals to make veterinary medicines dependent on prescription; and what assessment she has made of their impact in (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) Scotland.

Elliot Morley: This proposal forms part of a much wider set of proposals produced by the European Commission to amend the procedures for the authorisation and control of both human and veterinary medicines in the EU. This particular proposal concerns veterinary medicines for use in food-producing animals. In its present form it could result in farmers in England, Wales and Scotland, having to pay more by incurring veterinary surgeons' fees when obtaining those medicines that are currently available without veterinary intervention. Furthermore, it could restrict the number and types of veterinary medicines that may be supplied by registered agricultural merchants and saddlers, to a limited range of products for dogs and cats. This could have significant adverse effects on those businesses.
	In considering the proposal the Government have taken account of its likely impact on the supply of veterinary medicines and have agreed that, during negotiations, UK officials should seek to modify the proposal to enable a flexible approach to the distribution of veterinary medicinal products that takes advantage of existing national practices, so long as consumer protection and animal welfare can be demonstrably assured.

Rural Business Campaign

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations she has received from the UK Rural Business Campaign concerning the level of compensation available to rural businesses affected by foot and mouth disease; and if she will make a statement.

Margaret Beckett: holding answer 4 December 2001
	I am not aware of any recent representations from the UK Rural Business Campaign on this specific issue. The Government do not accept a liability to compensate businesses affected by the outbreak of foot and mouth disease and the measures taken to control it. The Government have put in place a package of measures to help affected businesses, including the £74 million Business Recovery Fund, enhanced central support for hardship rate relief granted by local authorities, and interest-free deferral of income tax, VAT and national insurance contributions.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Websites

Tim Boswell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he has taken to ensure that Government and agency websites are easily accessible to disabled users.

Christopher Leslie: It is our policy that all new or redesigned websites are made accessible. To achieve this we have adopted the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Accessibility Initiative, and web managers are asked to comply with level 1 of their Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Ministerial Decisions (Appeals)

Richard Bacon: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will list each of the statutory provisions where a person wishing to appeal against a decision of a Minister must, when lodging the appeal, pay the Minister a sum of money.

Harriet Harman: The following are examples of where the making of an application or the lodging of an appeal is accompanied by certain formalities, including the payment of a fee.
	Section 303 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 empowers the Secretary of State to make regulations to prescribe fees for most types of application under planning legislation. The Secretary of State had made regulations under this section setting fees.
	Part V of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 establishes a regime setting up the Immigration Services Commissioner, whose functions include the registration of persons providing immigration services and advice. Paragraph 5 of schedule 6 to the Act empowers the Secretary of State by order to specify fees for the registration or continued registration of persons on the register. The Secretary of State has so ordered.
	Part IV of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 provides for immigration appeals, and Section 60(1) empowers the Secretary of State by regulations to make provision requiring a family visitor exercising a right of appeal under section 59 to pay such fee as may be fixed by the regulations. The Secretary of State has made such regulations.
	It is not possible to list all statutory provisions falling within the category defined without a complete survey of statute law which would involve a disproportionate cost.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Free Television Licences

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) single pensioners have taken out free television licences, (b) pensioner couples have taken out such licences, (c) pensioners are entitled to such licences but have not taken them out and (d) pensioners have no television.

Kim Howells: Free television licences are issued to named individuals but also cover anyone else living at the specified address. The information held by TV Licensing does not therefore distinguish between free television licences issued to over-75s living on their own and those living as couples.
	No accurate information is available on television ownership by age group. It is therefore not possible to establish the number of pensioners who do not own a television set, nor the number of people eligible for a free licence but who have not applied for one.

Free Television Licences

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many and what percentage of households in the United Kingdom (a) pay for and (b) receive a free television licence.

Kim Howells: At the end of October 2001, television licences were in force for 23.725 million domestic premises. Fees were payable in respect of 20.059 million of these premises or approximately 85 per cent. of the total, including 200,000 Accommodation for Residential Care (ARC) units, for which the fee is £5. 3.666 million premises or approximately 15 per cent. of the total benefited from free television licences for the over-75s.

Office of Communications

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to ensure all regions of the United Kingdom are represented on the content board of the Office of Communication.

Kim Howells: Details of the arrangements for the regulation of content by the Office of Communications and how the interests of the nations and regions of the United Kingdom will be taken into account in those arrangements will be contained in the draft Communications Bill to be published in spring 2002.

Office of Communications

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what appointment criteria she proposes for the content board of the Office of Communication.

Kim Howells: The draft Communications Bill to be published in spring 2002 will contain details of the proposed form the regulation of content by the Office of Communication will take.

Historic Buildings (Disabled Access)

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what action the Government are taking to facilitate the provision of accessible WCs for people with disabilities visiting historic buildings.

Kim Howells: The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 was introduced to ensure that people with disabilities are offered the same services and facilities as everyone else. Planning Policy Guidance Note; planning and the historic environment (PPG15) states that it is important that people with disabilities should have dignified easy access to and within historic buildings. This includes the provision of suitable WCs.
	English Heritage is the Government's statutory advisor on all matters concerning the historic environment in England, as well as being responsible for 409 historic properties and sites which are visited by over 11 million people each year. It is currently undertaking a programme of access audits, to be followed by works to increase physical access. The programme covers all 409 sites and will make all reasonable physical adjustments, including the provision of accessible WCs where appropriate. It will be implemented according to the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. English Heritage also provides guidance to others who own or manage historic buildings and other heritage properties on how to improve accessibility.
	English Heritage, as well as the National Trust and other bodies, also produce special publications with information for visitors with disabilities and also include this in their general guides.

Television Sets

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her estimate is of the (a) number and (b) percentage of people living in the United Kingdom who have a television at their primary place of residence.

Kim Howells: Statistics on television ownership relate to premises rather than individuals. The estimated number of domestic premises with a television set is 24.585 million or 97.25 per cent. of all such premises. The available statistics do not distinguish between primary and other residences.

Television Sets

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her estimate is of (a) the number and (b) the percentage of (i) people and (ii) households in the United Kingdom that (A) receive and (B) can receive digital television by (1) digital terrestrial, (2) digital satellite, (3) digital cable and (4) other means; and what the equivalent figures are for reception at people's primary place of residence.

Kim Howells: The information available is as follows:
	(A) Digital television take up
	Nearly 8 million UK households (30 per cent.) have switched on to digital television since 1998, made up of some:
	5. 5 million satellite (Sky Digital);
	1.22 million terrestrial (ITV Digital);
	over 1 million cable (NTL and Telewest);
	others using terrestrial free-to-air only broadcasts and other technologies (eg ADSL).
	(B) Digital television coverage
	The latest figures available from the Independent Television Commission are as follows:
	(1) Digital terrestrial television (DTT) as at July 2001
	
		
			 UK coverage Percentage of population Number of homes 
		
		
			 Multiplex 1 BBC 81 20,261,000 
			 Multiplex 2 Digital 3 and 4 80 19,851,000 
			 Multiplex A SDN 78 19,455,000 
			 Multiplex B ITV Digital 79 19,546,000 
			 Multiplex C ITV Digital 76 18,963,000 
			 Multiplex D ITV Digital 74 18,441,000 
			 Core coverage(16) 68 16,929,000 
		
	
	(16) Core coverage is the ability to receive all six multiplexes
	The BBC and ITC, who are responsible for the DTT transmission network, are considering, in consultation with Government and stakeholders, how to improve coverage of all DTT multiplexes across the UK.
	(2) Digital satellite is predicted to reach about 98.2 per cent. of the UK population.
	(3) Digital cable passes 6.2 per cent. of UK homes.
	(4) Data are not available for other technologies.

Television Sets

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what is her estimate of the number of (a) analogue and (b) digital television sets bought in each of the last five years; and how many sets there are in the United Kingdom;
	(2)  if she will estimate the number of (a) analogue and (b) digital (i) radio and (ii) television sets in the United Kingdom.

Kim Howells: The Independent Television has advised that there are estimated to be 40–50 million analogue television sets in the UK and 210,000 integrated digital television sets.
	Estimates of television sales in the last five years are as follows:
	
		
			  Analogue TV sales (million) Digital TV sales (thousand) 
		
		
			 1997 4.3 nil 
			 1998 4.7 2 
			 1999 5.5 27 
			 2000 6.2 94 
			 2001(17) 4.6 87 
		
	
	(17) To October.
	Equivalent figures for radio are not available, but the Radio Authority has advised that there are estimated to be in excess of 100 million analogue radio sets currently in use in the UK and some 40,000 digital radio sets.

Digitally Originated Graphics

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the use of on-screen digitally originated graphics to identify and promote (a) television channels, (b) programme strands, (c) internet links and (d) other programmes.

Kim Howells: Electronic Programme Guides (EPG) (both with and without digitally originated graphics), will make it easier for viewers to access an increasing number of television programmes and channels on offer through digital television.
	Under the proposals outlined in the Communications White Paper, Ofcom's powers to promote competition and protect consumers will apply to EPGs and similar new systems. Ofcom's powers must be sufficiently flexible to address new competition issues as they emerge. It is also proposed that Ofcom should be able to regulate EPGs so that Public Service Broadcasters are given due prominence.

BBC Charter

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on (a) the process and (b) the timing of the renewal of the BBC Charter.

Kim Howells: The current Charter will expire in 2006 after a term of 10 years. We expect to start the review process in 2004 and will make an announcement on the process and timing in due course.

Digital Radio

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her estimate is of the (a) number and (b) percentage of (i) people and (ii) households in the United Kingdom that can receive (A) publicly and (B) commercially funded digital radio by any means; and what are the figures for reception at people's primary place of residence.

Kim Howells: The Radio Authority advise that:
	BBC national digital radio services cover around 60 per cent. of households (estimated to be around 14,700,000 households in total). The BBC has just announced that it is resuming its roll-out of digital radio;
	BBC local digital radio services (which include the National Regions) cover between 40 and 50 per cent. of households (estimated to be between 9,800,000 and 12,300,000 households in total);
	Commercial national digital radio services cover over 80 per cent. of households (estimated to be around 19,600,000 households in total);
	Commercial local digital radio services cover between 40 and 50 per cent. of households (estimated to be between 9,800,000 and 12,300,000 households in total), and the Radio Authority continues to advertise new multiplexes, working towards a target of 80 per cent. in this phase.
	There are no data for reception at a primary place of residence, or for the number or percentage of individuals (as opposed to households) who can receive digital radio.

Films (Funding)

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will (a) make a statement on (i) direct and (ii) indirect Government funding of films and (b) publish a list of films that have received such funding in each of the last five years.

Kim Howells: We have contacted a number of organisations that provide funding for film to request the information required, and I will write to the hon. Member as soon as it is available, placing copies of my letter in the Libraries of both Houses.

BBC Broadcast

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she expects to announce her decision on plans for BBC Broadcast.

Kim Howells: My Department has received an application from the BBC under Article 3(u) of the Charter seeking approval for the proposed incorporation of BBC Broadcast Ltd. The application is currently being assessed against the published guidelines for BBC commercial approvals and we expect to make a decision shortly.

Apsley House

Tony Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what provisions exist for the private hire of Apsley House; and which events have been held there in the last 10 years.

Kim Howells: Under the Wellington Museum Act 1947 all private hire events are subject to the consent of the Duke of Wellington.
	There have been 84 private hire events at the museum since 1 January 1991.

Apsley House

Tony Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make it her policy to exclude members of the Wellesley family from sitting on the proposed private trust for Apsley House.

Kim Howells: The proposed Apsley House Trust will be independent of Government. However the scope of its proposed membership has been discussed with Ministers who have indicated that there should not be more than one member of the Wellesley family out of a current total of five trustees on the Trust. The Duke and his family have a right to occupy the private apartments at Apsley House and the consent of the Duke of Wellington is required for the holding of certain events in the public apartments. In these circumstances, we believe that, if the Trust were to be successful in a bid to carry out various functions of the Secretary of State in relation to Apsley House, a formal link with the family would make good operational sense.

Apsley House

Tony Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what annual financial contribution is made by the Wellesley family towards the upkeep of Apsley House.

Kim Howells: Under the terms of the Wellington Museum Act 1947, the Secretary of State has a duty to maintain the forecourt of Apsley House, the fabric of its exterior and the parts of the building used as a museum. The Duke of Wellington is not required to make any contribution in respect of the duties of the Secretary of State, but he does have a duty to keep the portions of Apsley House which he is entitled to occupy in good repair and to maintain the garden of the House. In addition the Wellesley family are responsible for making their own arrangements for the supply of utilities to their apartments.

Apsley House

Tony Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what accommodation is provided for the Wellesley family in Apsley House; and what rent is paid.

Kim Howells: The Duke of Wellington and his family have the right of occupation, under the Wellington Museum Act 1947, to live at Apsley House in private apartments which comprise just over half the house and to occupy and maintain the garden. These rights of occupation are rent free (subject to the duties of repair and maintenance) in perpetuity.

Pools Industry

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what percentage of pools industry money went to the (a) Foundation for Sport and Arts and (b) Football Foundation in (i) 2000–01 and (ii) 2001–02; and what the percentage will be for 2002–03;
	(2)  what estimate has been made of the income to the (a) Foundation for Sport and the Arts and (b) Football Foundation from the pools industry in 2002–03.

Richard Caborn: Under the terms of the Government's agreement with the Littlewoods and Vernons Pools each company has made donations equivalent to 3 per cent. of stake money to each of the Foundations for Sport and the Arts and the Football Foundation in 2000–01 and 2001–02. The agreement was due to end on 31 March 2002. As announced by my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his pre-Budget Report, following discussions between officials and industry representatives, the two pools companies have agreed to continue their funding for the two Foundations for a further two years at a rate equivalent to 2 per cent. of gross profits.
	The Football Foundation retains only an element of the donations made to it as the pools donations are for UK-wide purposes while the Foundation is an England only body. The Foundation currently retains 72.8 per cent. of the funds donated to it by the pools companies for its own purposes less £250,000 directly allocated to Supporters Direct by the Government. The rest is passed to bodies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland specified by the devolved Administrations.
	My Department's provisional estimates are that pools donations to the Foundation for Sport and the Arts and Football Foundation will be in the region of £1.25 million. In the case of the Football Foundation this will mean in the region of £1 million for its own purposes in 2002–03. Of course, the final figures are tied to the success of both companies over the year.

LORD CHANCELLOR

Judges' Lodgings

Paul Stinchcombe: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what was the average cost of running judges' lodgings per judge accommodated for financial years (a) 1997–98, (b) 1998–99, (c) 1999–2000 and (d) 2000–01.

Michael Wills: The average cost of running judges' lodgings per judge accommodated for the four years in question is set out on three bases:
	
		£ 
		
			 Year Cost per judge accommodated 
		
		
			 Total cost of lodgings  
			 1997–98 56,865 
			 1998–99 64,604 
			 1999–2000 53,772 
			 2000–01 61,047 
			   
			 Cost of lodgings(18)  
			 1997–98 52,581 
			 1998–99 58,253 
			 1999–2000 47,233 
			 2000–01 52,326 
			   
			  Costs solely attributable to judicial occupation 
			 1997–98 26,587 
			 1998–99 28,322 
			 1999–2000 24,673 
			 2000–01 24,676 
		
	
	(18) Excluding the Treasury capital charge payable on all freehold properties
	Note:
	The figures for 2000–01 are yet to be audited and may therefore be subject to slight change

Judges' Lodgings

Paul Stinchcombe: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what was the average cost of running judges' lodgings per night of accommodation provided for the following financial years (a) 1997–98, (b) 1998–99, (c) 1999–2000 and (d) 2000–2001.

Michael Wills: The average cost of running judges' lodgings per night of accommodation provided for the four years in question is set out on three bases:
	
		Total cost of lodgings -- £
		
			  Cost per night of accommodation 
		
		
			 1997–98 777 
			 1998–99 846 
			 1999–2000 782 
			 2000–01 896 
		
	
	
		Cost of lodgings (excluding the Treasury capital charge payable on all freehold properties) -- £
		
			  Cost per night of accommodation 
		
		
			 1997–98 719 
			 1998–99 763 
			 1999–2000 687 
			 2000–01 768 
		
	
	
		Costs solely attributable to judicial occupation -- £
		
			  Cost per night of accommodation 
		
		
			 1997–98 364 
			 1998–99 371 
			 1999–2000 359 
			 2000–01 362 
		
	
	The figures for 2000–01 are yet to be audited and may therefore be subject to slight change.

Judiciary (Corruption)

John McDonnell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many members of the judiciary 
	(1)  were convicted of corruption in (a) 1996, (b) 1997, (c) 1998, (d) 1999 and (e) 2000;
	(2)  were charged with corruption in (a) 1996, (b) 1997, (c) 1998, (d) 1999 and (e) 2000;
	(3)  cautioned in the course of an investigation for corruption in (a) 1996, (b) 1997, (c) 1998, (d) 1999 and (e) 2000.

Rosie Winterton: The information sought is not recorded and held in a manner which would make it possible to answer these questions with absolute certainty. However, the Lord Chancellor is not aware of any member of the judiciary being charged with, cautioned for or convicted of corruption between 1996 and 2000; he is aware of a Circuit Judge who, during the period, was charged with, but not convicted of, fraud relating to his activities before he became a judge.

Departmental Expenditure Limit

John Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what proportion of the increase in the departmental expenditure limit from 2001–02 to 2002–03 will be accounted for by wage costs.

Rosie Winterton: The level of wage costs within departmental budgets this year and in future years will be dependent upon negotiations. Departmental reports published next spring will give full retrospective costs.

House of Lords (Reform)

David Miliband: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when he will publish the series of background papers on reform of the House of Lords promised in the Government's White Paper, "The House of Lords—Completing the Reform".

Michael Wills: The Lord Chancellor's Department is today issuing a single report, entitled "The House of Lords—Completing the Reform—Supporting Documents", that contains all of the background papers. Copies of the report have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. Copies of the report have also been placed in the Vote Office.
	Further copies of the report may be obtained from:
	The House of Lords Reform Team
	Lord Chancellor's Department
	Room 815
	Millbank Tower
	21–24 Millbank
	London SW1P 4QP
	The report is also available on the LCD website at www.lcd.gov.uk/

House of Lords (Reform)

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department for what reasons the Government have not established a Joint Committee of both Houses to consider the reform of the House of Lords; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Wills: The Government proposed a Joint Committee in their manifesto for the 1997 election, which they stated would focus on the parliamentary aspects of reform. During the course of the last Parliament, they made strenuous efforts to set up such a Committee. However, it was not possible to reach agreement with the other main political parties as to the terms of reference for the Joint Committee.
	There was no commitment in the 2001 manifesto to the creation of such a Committee. The 2001 manifesto committed the Government to the introduction of the second stage of reform of the House of Lords, by the most effective implementation possible of the recommendations of the Royal Commission on reform of the House of Lords.
	The Government's proposals were published on 7 November in the White Paper "The House of Lords—Completing the Reform" (Cm 5291). They are subject to consultation; the consultation period ends on 31 January 2002.

Victims of Crime

Andrew George: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department in which types of cases victims' personal statements may be used in court cases since 1 October.

Keith Bradley: I have been asked to reply.
	The Victim Personal Statement scheme is intended to give victims of crime a more formal opportunity to say how they have been affected by the crime. The statement will become part of the papers and should help all Criminal Justice Agencies subsequently dealing with the case to take more informed decisions. All personal victims of crime, or serious road traffic incidents, are covered by the Victim Personal Statements (VPS) scheme and will be offered the chance to make VPSs which can be used in court.
	The term "victim" includes the bereaved relatives or partners (including same sex partners) in fatal road traffic cases leading to criminal action; the bereaved relatives or partners (including same sex partners) in homicide cases; partners or carers where the primary victim is a child or vulnerable adult; and small businesses (such as small shops, but not large retailers or corporations).

PRIME MINISTER

Performance and Innovation Unit

John Bercow: To ask the Prime Minister what legislation has resulted from the establishment of the Performance and Innovation Unit.

Tony Blair: The implementation of PIU reports is taken forward by the relevant Government Departments. In many cases, the wide-ranging nature of PIU reports means that it is not possible to identify specific pieces of legislation that have arisen from those reports. However, examples include the PIU "Encryption and Law Enforcement" report which influenced the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, and the PIU "Recovering the Proceeds of Crime report" which contributed to legislation in the Proceeds of Crime Bill.

NHS Spending

David Laws: To ask the Prime Minister if it is his policy to increase the level of spending on the NHS to the European average level by 2005; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave to the right hon. Members for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr. Duncan Smith), for Ross, Skye and Inverness, West (Mr. Kennedy) and for Maidstone and The Weald (Miss Widdecombe) on 5 December 2001, Official Report, columns 325–30.

Special Advisers

Andrew Turner: To ask the Prime Minister if he will publish (a) the standard form of contract for and (b) the disciplinary procedures for special advisers; and if he will state where these differ from those of career civil servants.

Tony Blair: All special advisers are appointed under terms and conditions set out in the Model Contract for Special Advisers. Copies of the model contract are in the Library of the House. Clause 15 of the contract sets out the disciplinary procedures that apply.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Stakeholder Pensions

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what information he collates on the amount and frequency of payments into stakeholder pension schemes.

Ian McCartney: Information is supplied by the Inland Revenue, derived from returns made by scheme administrators when claiming tax relief, on the amount of contributions to stakeholder pensions. Information for the first quarter of the financial year is published on its website. Information on the frequency of payments is not available.

Pension Schemes

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pension schemes have been closed to new members in each year since 1997; and what the size is of each of the schemes that has been closed.

Ian McCartney: Further to the answer given to the hon. Member for Havant on 10 April 2001, Official Report, columns 623–24W, inaccuracies occurred in the information provided. The information in the text of the answer and column (a) were correct at the date of the original answer. The information given in column (c) for years prior to 1990 was unreliable, but was accurate for subsequent years. Information has been subsequently supplied which increases the numbers in columns (a) and (c). The information in column (b) supplied at the time was incorrect. The correct information is contained in table 1.
	
		Table 1
		
			  (a) (b) (c) 
			   Number of schemes with commencement dates in that year Number of occupational schemes closed within a particular year Number of schemes that wound up in that year 
		
		
			 1979 4,781 n/a n/a 
			 1980 4,693 n/a n/a 
			 1981 4,637 n/a n/a 
			 1982 5,723 n/a n/a 
			 1983 6,770 n/a n/a 
			 1984 8,620 n/a n/a 
			 1985 10,974 n/a n/a 
			 1986 11,038 n/a n/a 
			 1987 12,436 n/a n/a 
			 1988 22,299 n/a n/a 
			 1989 11,511 n/a n/a 
			 1990 7,820 n/a n/a 
			 1991 12,881 n/a 657 
			 1992 8,156 n/a 758 
			 1993 6,614 n/a 968 
			 1994 7,541 n/a 1,248 
			 1995 6,614 n/a 1,675 
			 1996 8,354 (19)— 3,132 
			 1997 6,221 (20)176 25,525 
			 1998 5,053 283 6,825 
			 1999 3,743 310 8,161 
			 2000 3,502 322 5,596 
		
	
	(19) The total number of schemes that closed prior to 2 April 1997 was 2,021. This may include schemes closed before 1979, but still in existence when schemes were required to register in 1991.
	(20) Figure covers the period 2 April 1997 to 31 December 1997
	Column (a) is based on scheme commencement date until 1991 and then registrable date. Schemes with at least two members have been required to register since 1991. Schemes already in existence in 1991 had to provide the date of scheme commencement on registration.
	Column (b) shows numbers of schemes closed to new members during the year. The Pension Schemes Registry did not require schemes to provide the date of closure prior to 2 April 1997, although some schemes did. Therefore, in most cases, it is not possible to identify the individual years in which schemes closed prior to this date.
	Column (c) is based on the wound-up date of the occupational pension scheme. Many of these schemes will have begun the winding-up process in an earlier year. Figures for years before 1991 are not available.
	The Pension Schemes Registry (PSR) records the number of closed schemes (that is schemes closed to new members but which still have active members accruing benefits) but it would be disproportionately expensive to identify the size of each individual scheme. The information in tables 2 and 3 identify the number of schemes according to the membership bands used by the PSR to assess a schemes levy liability.
	
		Table 2: Occupational pension schemes closed from an effective date within each year
		
			 Levy membership band 1997(21),(22) 1998 1999 2000 2001(23) 
		
		
			 2–11 72 127 135 106 85 
			 12–99 56 77 69 94 73 
			 100–999 39 65 89 110 71 
			 1000–4999 4 10 12 12 16 
			 5000–9999 4 3 1 0 1 
			 10000+ 1 1 4 0 2 
		
	
	
		Table 3: Personal Pension schemes closed from an effective date within each year
		
			 Levy membership band 1997(21),(22) 1998 1999 2000 2001(23) 
		
		
			 2–11 0 0 1 0 0 
			 12–99 0 0 0 0 0 
			 100–999 0 0 2 0 0 
			 1000–4999 0 0 0 0 0 
			 5000–9999 0 0 0 0 0 
			 10000+ 1 1 1 0 4 
		
	
	(21) The PSR computer system is not able to identify the year of closure of schemes prior to 2 April 1997
	(22) 2 April to 31 December
	(23) To date
	Notes:
	1. Schemes with one member are not required to register and are therefore not included in the figures
	2. The schemes listed as closed are those which still have active members

Deaf Awareness

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what research his Department is undertaking into the take-up of disability living allowance among deaf adults.

Maria Eagle: The number of disability living allowance (DLA) recipients with deafness as their principal disabling condition has increased by around 200 per cent. (8,700 to 26,500) since 1993, twice the increase in the overall caseload over the same period. More generally the number of people getting DLA is increasing by some 3 to 5 per cent. each year. Estimates of and research into the take up of DLA are not routinely undertaken, but the take-up of the benefit is kept under general review.

Deaf Awareness

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to ensure that disability living allowance medical reports based on assessments in which (a) a deaf examinee was not provided with communication support or (b) the examiner was not experienced in the problems of deaf people are set aside.

Maria Eagle: Arrangements exist for the rescheduling of a medical assessment if a claimant has not previously indicated the need for an interpreter, but it later transpires that the assessment cannot proceed without one. The same would apply should there be a need for communication support for a deaf claimant.
	Current training for examining doctors already includes instructions to assess comprehension of speech and reaction to noise. It also includes instructions to take into account the effects of background noise when assessing hearing. A trainer-led module on sensory problems has been prepared, with help from RNID and other voluntary organisations to deliver to examining doctors.
	It is therefore unlikely that there would be a need for medical assessments to be set aside.

Deaf Awareness

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will amend the Decision Making and Appeals Regulations so that appeals from deaf claimants which are heard without the requisite communication support can be set aside by a tribunal chair.

Maria Eagle: Regulation 57 of the Social Security and Child Support (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 1999 only allows set aside in limited circumstances. These are where a document relating to the proceedings was not sent or received or a party to the proceedings was not present at an oral hearing. A chairman may also set aside where there have been procedural irregularities or mishaps. In addition, under section 13(2) of the Social Security Act 1998, if a person applies for leave to appeal to a Commissioner, the tribunal chairman (or another legally qualified panel member) can set aside the tribunal's decision and remit the matter for redetermination provided he considers that the original decision was wrong in law. That would include where he considered that there had been a breach of natural justice, for example, where the evidence showed that the appellant was not able to hear or understand what was being said at an oral hearing.
	We have no plans to expand the set aside provisions.

Deaf Awareness

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will ensure that the Appeals Service is prepared to fund appropriate communications support for deaf applicants to hold preliminary meetings with their representatives in such appeals.

Maria Eagle: Last year the Appeals Service commissioned the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID) to undertake a disability audit of service provision. To improve customer service a strategic plan has been implemented to tackle the issues identified. We are seeking to ensure diversity issues are taken into account and successfully managed in each area of the agency, as part of normal business.
	For those with hearing difficulties, "typetalk" and induction loops are available. Induction loops are now in most permanent venues, and plans are in place to ensure that all permanent venues have this equipment by 31 March 2002. For deaf appellants who require communication support, a British Sign Language interpreter is made available where appropriate.
	The Appeals Service does not fund advice or any communications support in advance of the tribunal hearing. This is often provided by welfare organisations, some of whom are already supported by central or local government, prior to an appeal being heard.

Deaf Awareness

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will ensure that each disability benefit centre within the Disability and Benefits Covers Directorate works towards accreditation with the Royal National Institute for Deaf People's 'Louder than Words' Charter.

Maria Eagle: We are working with the Royal National Institute for the Deaf, to review those offices within the Disability and Carer Benefits Directorate that have achieved accreditation in the past and to prepare those offices which are working towards it.

Deaf Awareness

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will ensure that all those making decisions on awards of (a) disability living allowance and (b) attendance allowance receive appropriate training in (i) deaf awareness and (ii) related problems for those wishing to claim benefits.

Maria Eagle: Training for new Decision Makers (DM) includes material on hearing impairment with information on how hearing occurs, sound frequency and volume. It also makes reference to British Sign Language and lip reading.
	A programme of specialist training on people with hearing difficulties is currently being delivered to all DMs throughout the organisation. The "Understanding our customers" module includes material on living with a hearing impairment. There are training courses in place covering "Dealing with vulnerable groups" and "Deaf and hard of hearing", the latter run on our behalf by the Royal National Institute for the Deaf.

Hospital Patients (Long Stay Costs)

Gwyn Prosser: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to review the rules relating to the pensions and benefits of people who stay in hospital for more than six weeks.

Ian McCartney: The Department, in conjunction with the Department of Health, is looking at issues affecting hospital in-patients, including the rules governing the downrating of benefits.

Hospital Patients (Long Stay Costs)

Gwyn Prosser: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the annual costs to his Department of reducing the pensions and benefits of people who have long stays in hospital caused by delayed transfer in those cases where the Department is late in being notified that the stay exceeded six weeks;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the annual costs to his Department in making retrospective deductions from the incomes of people who have stayed in hospital for (a) more than six weeks and (b) more than 52 weeks in respect of (i) their pensions income and (ii) their benefits income.

Ian McCartney: The Benefits Agency's administration costs are published in the Benefits Agency annual report and accounts 2000–01, copies of which are available in the House of Commons Library. The costs are not classified by individual tasks.

Hospital Patients (Long Stay Costs)

Gwyn Prosser: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proposals he has to (a) alleviate the administrative burden and (b) reduce the delays that pensioners leaving hospital following a stay of more than six weeks face when seeking to restore their pensions and benefits to former levels.

Ian McCartney: The benefit is restored to the appropriate level when the Benefits Agency receives notification of the pensioner's discharge from hospital. This is part of normal procedures and we have no evidence to suggest there is a widespread administrative burden.

National Insurance Contributions

Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many individuals in each of the last 10 years have applied for a formal determination of their national insurance contributions by the Secretary of State.

Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.
	The figures for the number of individuals who have applied for a formal determination about their national insurance contributions by the Secretary of State for Social Security during the last 10 years are not held.

Pensioners (Statistics)

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners he estimates there will be in the United Kingdom by 2010.

Ian McCartney: We estimate that by 2010 there will be around 12 million pensioners in Great Britain.
	Note:
	Figure rounded to the nearest million.
	Source:
	Government Actuary's Department 2000 Population Projection

Disability Living Allowance

Denis Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average cost is of processing an application for disability living allowance when it is resolved following (a) receipt of the applicant's completed claim pack, (b) a medical examination in the home, (c) an appeal to a medical appeal tribunal and (d) an appeal to the independent tribunal service.

Maria Eagle: The average cost of processing a new claim for disability living allowance (DLA), based on a claim pack only, is £33.65. Where a medical examination is carried out in the claimant's home, the average cost is £87.39. All appeals against DLA decisions are dealt with by disability appeals tribunals. The total average cost of a DLA appeal is £253.60 of which £168.00 is attributable to the tribunal service.

Outsourcing

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on the saving from the ACCORD contract for strategic outsourcing of IS and IT services;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on the saving arising from his Department's public-private partnership for the support of IT needs.

Ian McCartney: The objectives of Strategic Outsourcing are:
	To achieve improved value for money for the delivery of current operations and new developments;
	To facilitate the award of contracts for future allocations of business in support of the Welfare Reform Agenda;
	To deliver current and future IS/IT services and operations;
	To develop and manage the migration of existing and new business systems onto a shared systems infrastructure, in line with the Department's IS/IT Strategy.
	Strategic Outsourcing therefore has not been undertaken solely on the basis of cash savings. However, estimates over the contract period have shown reduced costs for the outsourcing approach.

SchlumbergerSema

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress has been made on formalising the extension of the medical services contract with SchlumbergerSema.

Nick Brown: The Department has finalised contractual amendments which set performance and delivery conditions for a contract extension to 31 August 2005. The agreement to extend the contract is subject to confirmation before 31 May 2002.

Equal Pay

Barbara Follett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of (a) the workforce and (b) the finance sector is employed in organisations that have carried out equal pay reviews.

Barbara Roche: I have been asked to reply.
	Many employers have stated publicly that they have carried out, or are planning to carry out a pay review while others prefer to keep this information confidential. The Government therefore do not hold information on what proportion of the workforce or the finance sector are employed in organisations that have carried out equal pay reviews.

TREASURY

Overseas Development Assistance

Martyn Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with Finance Ministers of other countries on the level of overseas development assistance.

Paul Boateng: The Chancellor talks frequently with his counterparts in other countries on many topics, for example, the most recent meeting of ECOFIN on Tuesday 4 December where this issue was raised.

Public-Private Partnerships

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has for the expansion of public private partnerships; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Smith: Public-private partnerships remain a key element of the Government's modernisation programme. We will continue to apply the PPP approach to a wide range of public sector activities where appropriate, drawing on business skills and experience of private sector partners to develop and implement policy and deliver better quality public services.

World Poverty

Kerry Pollard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the role of the United Kingdom in pressing for co-ordinated international action to tackle world poverty.

Doug Naysmith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent action he has taken to press for co-ordinated international action to reduce world poverty.

Paul Boateng: The UK is working with governments throughout the world, both in donor and developing countries, to ensure that co-ordinated action is taken. To this end we co-ordinate our efforts through the G7/8 process, through institutions such as the IMF, World bank, WTO, and UN system, and directly with developing countries themselves. The Chancellor has recently spoken in New York and at Yale university on the need to ensure that globalisation brings prosperity to all, and contributes to poverty reduction.

World Poverty

Piara S Khabra: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with Finance Ministers from other countries to press for co-ordinated international action to tackle world poverty.

Paul Boateng: The Chancellor regularly uses international meetings of Finance Ministers to push for co-ordinated action to tackle world poverty, including efforts to achieve the 2015 goals. Discussions of Finance Ministers in Ottawa covered the need for increased development assistance in order to reach these goals, and efforts to maintain debt sustainability in HIPC countries given the current global downturn.

Manufacturing

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last met the Governor of the Bank of England to discuss the state of United Kingdom manufacturing.

Paul Boateng: The Chancellor and the Governor meet regularly to discuss a wide range of issues.

Manufacturing

James Clappison: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received from business men in the United Kingdom on manufacturing productivity; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Boateng: The Chancellor and other Treasury Ministers often receive representations from manufacturers and all areas of business on a wide range of economic issues, and value their insights.

Manufacturing

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the change in the tax burden on manufacturing industry since 1997.

Andrew Smith: The information requested is not available. This is because the difficulties involved in apportioning taxes between different sectors means that the estimates would not be robust.

Manufacturing

Richard Burden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what action he is taking to create an economic environment that encourages investment in manufacturing industry.

Paul Boateng: The Government are committed to creating and maintaining the right climate for business to flourish, invest and grow. Since 1997, the Government's central economic objective has been to achieve high and stable levels of growth and employment. This means pursuing macro-economic and enterprise policies which promote business activity, and which improve the productivity of firms in the UK. Because of the choices we have made we are now enjoying the longest period of sustained low inflation since the 1960s, we have the lowest long term interest rates for nearly 40 years, and the lowest unemployment since the 1970s. The fiscal policy framework which we have put in place has restored the public finances to a healthy and sustainable position.
	Of course, no country can insulate itself from global economic events. But the UK is now much better placed than in the past to weather the global downturn. The Government will continue to steer a course of economic stability, with low inflation and sound public finances, coupled with microeconomic reforms to create the right conditions for investment and growth in the future.

Investment

Simon Hughes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the level of public sector net investment as a proportion of national income over the period of the first comprehensive spending review.

Andrew Smith: The information is as follows:
	
		
			  Percentage of GDP(24) 
		
		
			 1999–2000 0.5 
			 2000–01 0.7 
			 2001–02 1.3 
		
	
	(24) The figures for 1999–2000 and 2000–01 are outturn figures, consistent with table B23 in the pre-Budget report. The figure for 2001–02 is the latest projection, consistent with table B6 in the pre-Budget report.

Development Assistance Target

Paul Goggins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects the Government to reach the United Nations development assistance target of 0.7 per cent. of gross national product.

Paul Boateng: We remain fully committed to the UN 0.7 per cent. oda/GNP target. We have set out our plans for the next three years to 2003–04 and as these show, development assistance as a proportion of GNP will rise to 0.33 per cent. in 2003–04, up from 0.26 per cent. in 1997. In his speech in New York, the Chancellor emphasised his commitment to ensuring further substantial increases in development assistance.

Monetary Policy

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last met the Governor of the Bank of England to discuss monetary policy.

Ruth Kelly: The Chancellor and the Governor meet regularly to discuss a wide range of issues. The conduct of monetary policy is a matter for the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England.

Aviation Industry

Ian Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what fiscal measures he is considering to lessen the economic effects of international terrorism on the aviation industry.

Paul Boateng: The Government keep all taxes under review and decisions will be made as part of the normal Budget process.

PSBR

John MacDougall: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the role of the public sector borrowing requirement in deciding on monetary union.

Ruth Kelly: The Government have said that they will complete an assessment of the five economic tests within two years of the start of this Parliament. The assessment will be comprehensive and rigorous. All relevant economic issues will be dealt with as part of the assessment.

Minimum Income Guarantee

John Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to improve the minimum income guarantee for the poorest pensioner households.

Andrew Smith: The minimum income guarantee benefits around 1.8 million of the poorest households. In April, we reformed the capital rules to reward those who have saved and we abolished the age-related lower rates so that everyone on the MIG is entitled to the highest rate of support. We are committed to raising the MIG in line with earnings throughout this Parliament to ensure that pensioners can share in rising prosperity.
	To provide greater support not only for the very poorest but also for those on low and modest incomes, we have decided to proceed with the introduction of the Pension Credit from 2003 at a cost of £2 billion in the first full year. The Pension Credit will tackle the unfairness and complexities of the current system. It will bring pensioners up to a guaranteed minimum income and it will reward those who have saved for retirement to ensure that it pays to have saved even quite modest amounts.

Climate Change Levy

Gillian Merron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will exempt combined heat and power from the climate change levy; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Boateng: As announced in last week's pre-Budget report, subject to legal and other constraints, the Government will consider the environmental case for providing more favourable treatment for CHP within the climate change levy, taking account of the role which CHP might play in meeting the UK's climate change targets.

Euro

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will include the achievement of a competitive and sustainable final exchange rate of the pound against the euro in his assessment of the economic tests for UK membership of the euro.

Ruth Kelly: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for Truro and St. Austell (Matthew Taylor) on 20 July 2001, Official Report, column 561W.

Euro

Tom Brake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the recent meetings he has had with the Prime Minister to discuss the introduction of the euro.

Ruth Kelly: The Prime Minister and the Chancellor meet regularly to discuss a wide range of issues.

Euro

Alan Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Truro and St. Austell (Matthew Taylor), of 19 July 2001, Official Report, column 381W, what exchange rate between the pound and the euro will be stable and competitive in the medium term.

Ruth Kelly: The Government believe the best contribution they can make to a stable and competitive exchange rate is low and stable inflation with sound public finances.

Euro

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the extent to which the pound sterling was overvalued against the euro on 27 November; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: The Government believe the best contribution they can make to a stable and competitive exchange rate over the medium term is low and stable inflation with sound public finances.

Research and Development Tax Breaks

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the utilisation of research and development tax breaks.

Dawn Primarolo: Figures for the number of firms that have taken advantage of the research and development tax credit for small and medium enterprises introduced in the last Budget will not be available until 2002, when firms incurring research and development expenditure have sent in their tax returns for the first year of operation of the scheme.

Exports

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the impact the economic slowdown in Europe will have on UK exports in the next 12 months.

Ruth Kelly: The Government's latest forecast for UK export growth in 2002, which takes into account all relevant influences, was published in the pre-Budget report (Cm 5318).

Commissioner Bolkestein

Nigel Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last met European Commissioner Bolkestein; and if he will make a statement on the issues discussed.

Ruth Kelly: The Chancellor met Commissioner Bolkestein on 20 November. They discussed a number of current tax dossiers and preparations for the Barcelona European Council.

Smuggling

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the proportion of the market share of UK consumed cigarettes accounted for by smuggled product for the latest year for which information is available; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Boateng: I refer the hon. Member to page 11 of the Customs and Excise paper "Measuring Indirect Tax Fraud" published on 27 November 2001, a copy of which is in the Library of the House.
	The Customs and Excise paper, "Tackling Indirect Tax Fraud", also published on 27 November 2001 and a copy of which is also in the Library of the House, sets out the results of the first year of the Government's Tackling Tobacco Smuggling strategy. These results show that the Government's strategy is on target to achieve its aim of putting cigarette smuggling into decline within three years.

Railtrack

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 19 November 2001, Official Report, columns 143–44W, under what exemptions of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information he did not provide the information requested.

Andrew Smith: The answer was in accordance with Exemption 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, which was introduced in April 1994, and the Resolution of the House of March 1997. These specifically provide for the exclusion of internal consultation and discussion, and confidential communications between Government Departments.

Working Age Inactivity Rate

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the change in the working age inactivity rate over the past 12 months; what reasons underlie this change; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. David Laws, dated 6 December 2001
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about the change in working age inactivity rates. (20223)
	The Labour Force Survey (LFS) provides estimates of the economic inactivity rates of working age people, ie. men aged 16–64 and women aged 16–59. The working age economic inactivity rate is the number of working age people who are economically inactive as a percentage of all working age people.
	The latest available seasonally adjusted estimates are based on a three month rolling average for July to September 2001. The seasonally adjusted LFS estimate of the working age economic inactivity rate for July to September 2001 is 21.4 per cent. This is 0.4 percentage point higher than the estimate for July to September 2000. The inactivity rate for women rose by 0.6 percentage points over this period to 27.6 per cent, and the rate for men rose by 0.1 percentage point to 15.8 per cent.

Capital Gains Tax

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimates he has made of the level of capital gains tax paid in each year from 1997–98 to 2002–03; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: Estimates of capital gains tax receipts in 2001–02 to 2002–03 are published in the November 2001 pre-Budget report. Estimates for earlier years are available from the Inland Revenue website.

Corporation Tax

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are his latest estimates of the level of non-North Sea corporation tax for each of the years 1997–98 to 2002–03; how these estimates vary from those made at the time of Budget 2001; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: Current and Budget 2001 estimates of non-North Sea corporation tax receipts in each of the years 1997–98 to 2002–03 are:
	
		£ billion 
		
			   Current Budget 2001 
		
		
			 1997–98 29.5 29.5 
			 1998–99 29.1 29.1 
			 1999–2000 33.2 33.2 
			 2000–01 30.2 29.8 
			 2001–02 29.8 34.1 
			 2002–03 31.6 35.6

Employment Credit

Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the number of (a) single childless people and (b) childless couples who will be entitled to the proposed employment credit.

Dawn Primarolo: The number of people eligible for the working tax credit will depend on the rates and thresholds, which will be set as part of the Budget 2002 process.

Government Receipts

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what the total receipts from income tax were in each year since 1989;
	(2)  what were the total Government receipts from all sources minus national insurance contributions in each year since 1989;
	(3)  what the total Government receipts from national insurance contributions were in each year since 1989.

Dawn Primarolo: Estimates for all the components of public sector receipts are available from the Office for National Statistics databank, which is available in the House of Commons Library.

National Insurance

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will provide a breakdown in current prices of the total sum raised in (a) employers' national insurance and (b) employees' national insurance in each year since May 1997.

Dawn Primarolo: Estimates for all the components of public sector receipts are available from the Office for National Statistics databank, which is available in the House of Commons Library.

National Insurance

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact of levels of (a) employers' and (b) employees' national insurance contributions on labour productivity.

Dawn Primarolo: No specific assessment of the impact of levels of employers' and employees' national insurance contributions on labour productivity have been made. However, the Government have implemented a number of recent reforms in this area designed to ensure work pays, which should promote labour supply and employment, and thus also help improve the economy's long-term growth potential.

National Insurance

Chris Grayling: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the amount of money that would be raised by abolishing the upper earnings limit on national insurance contributions.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow) on 19 November 2001, Official Report, column 135W.

Uncertificated Securities Regulations

Barbara Follett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what use has been made of the powers in the Uncertificated Securities Regulations 2001 to delegate functions to the Financial Services Authority.

Ruth Kelly: Following Parliament's approval, the Uncertificated Securities Regulations 2001 (SI 2001–3755) have replaced the Uncertificated Securities Regulations 1995. Continuing the approach under the 1995 Regulations, the Treasury has delegated to the Financial Services Authority its powers under part 2 of the Regulations, except—as required—those functions conferred on the Treasury by regulation 11 and regulation 12. This re-confirms the FSA role as supervisor of CREST as operator. The FSA is also supervisor of CREST as a recognised clearing house.

Vocational Training

Phil Willis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the removal of tax relief on self-funded vocational training.

Dawn Primarolo: I have no plans to make a statement.

PFI Projects

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to increase value for money in private finance initiative projects.

Andrew Smith: Public-private partnership (including private finance initiative) projects are used where they offer better value for money than alternative procurement approaches. By providing better value (through innovation and better management of risks), the Government can deliver more public services, more quickly and to a higher standard than with public sector investment alone.
	Significant improvements have been made to PFI since 1997, and the process is kept under review to ensure that lessons learned (including from NAO and PAC reports) are disseminated to Departments and other public authorities. The Office of Government Commerce (OGC), supported by Partnerships UK (PUK), is currently revising the guidance on Standardisation of PFI Contracts first published in 1999. The OGC is working with Departments to improve their delivery of all procurement projects, while PUK support is available for PPP projects in particular.

National Health Service

Laura Moffatt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what impact the additional costs resulting from measures taken in response to the events of 11 September have had on plans for funding the expansion of the national health service.

Andrew Smith: The Department of Health in liaison with other Departments have been reviewing their contingency plans in the light of the events of 11 September. There is no impact on planned investment to deliver the NHS Plan. The Chancellor announced in the pre-Budget report an extra £1 billion for health to help ensure delivery of the NHS Plan.

Borrowing

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which assumptions underlying his forecasts for public borrowing have been designed to be deliberately cautious, due to high levels of uncertainty; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Smith: Box B1 on page 169 of the pre- Budget report sets out the cautious assumptions, audited by the National Audit Office, underlying the public finances projections.

Borrowing

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is of public sector net borrowing for the fiscal year 2001–02 to date; what the position was at the same stage of the fiscal year 2000–01, excluding the proceeds of the sale of mobile (Spectrum) phone licences; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Smith: The latest monthly data for public sector net borrowing in 2000–01 and 2001–02 are available in the joint HM Treasury/Office for National Statistics public sector finances first release, issued on 20 November. As explained in the background notes in the release, the receipts by Government for allowing use of the spectrum by mobile phone companies are treated as rent in the UK national accounts and spread evenly over the whole of the license period.

Borrowing

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assumptions and calculations he has made in order to derive the lower estimates for financial company profits which are used to calculate the new public borrowing estimates in Table B7, page 173, of the pre-Budget report; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Smith: The pre-Budget report describes the path of financial company profits assumed in the public finances projections in paragraph B44.

Borrowing

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimates of the growth of total managed expenditure for 2004 to 2007 underlie the forecasts for public borrowing as set out in Table B2, page 165, of the pre-Budget report; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Smith: Forecasts for Total Managed Expenditure for 2004–05 to 2006–07 are determined by the assumptions for current expenditure in DEL and AME and for public sector net investment set out in paragraph B20 on page 168 of the pre-Budget report.

Public Service Agreements

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish his latest assessment of each Government Department's performance in relation to its public service agreement targets; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Smith: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 25 October 2001, Official Report, column 373W.

Wanless Review

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on his plans to consult with patients and others on the conclusions of the Wanless Review of Long-Term Health Trends.

Andrew Smith: Derek Wanless will continue to consult organisations with an interest in health and social care about his interim report, both in the UK and abroad. He will also listen to the views of individuals, patient groups, the NHS and social care practitioners throughout the UK, before submitting his final report to the Chancellor.

Contingency Reserves

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what allocations have been made from the Government's contingency reserves for (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Smith: The Government will continue to seek any resources additional to departmental budgets from Parliament in the usual way, which includes the announcement to Parliament of additions to departmental expenditure limits via parliamentary answers. These are given effect in supplementary estimates.

Tax Burden

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what his estimate is of net taxes and social security contributions as a share of gross domestic product for each year from 1999–2000 to 2005–06; how these estimates have changed over the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what is his latest estimate of the change in the tax burden from 2001–02 to 2003–04; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Smith: Current projections for net taxes and social security contributions as a per cent. of GDP are available in Tables B10 and B22 of the 2001 pre-Budget report.
	The November 2000 projections for net taxes and social security contributions as a per cent. of GDP are available in Table B10 of the 2000 pre-Budget report.

Privatisation Proceeds

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimates he has made for privatisation proceeds over the next 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Smith: Projections for proceeds from the sales of assets for the next three years are set out in Table B18 of the pre-Budget report (Cm 5318).

Budgetary Forecasts

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the size is of the safety margin built into future borrowing forecasts, referred to in paragraph B3, page 164, of the pre-Budget report, for each of the next three financial years; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Smith: The public finance projections in the pre-Budget report are based on cautious assumptions audited by the National Audit Office (NAO).
	In addition, the robustness of projections is tested against an alternative more cautious scenario, in which the level of trend output is assumed to be lower than in the central case, as illustrated in chart 2.5 on page 29 of the pre-Budget report.
	Further detail is set out in Box B1 and Chapter 2, paragraphs 2.60 and 2.61 of the pre-Budget report.

Budgetary Forecasts

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assumptions for the level of unemployment in (a) 2001, (b) 2002, (c) 2003 and (d) 2004 were used in drawing up the economic and budgetary forecasts made in the pre-Budget report; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Smith: The assumption for unemployment used in the public finance forecasts presented in the pre- Budget report is based on the average of outside forecasters' forecasts for unemployment, in line with NAO audited conventions. Assumed annual average unemployment figures are shown in the table. The Government, in line with the practice of previous Administrations, does not publish forecasts for unemployment.
	
		Claimant unemployment assumption for the 2001 pre-Budget report Public Finances Forecast, based on average of outside forecasters' forecasts -- million
		
			  UK seasonally adjusted claimant unemployed 
		
		
			 2000–01(25) 1.05 
			 2001–02 0.97 
			 2002–03 1.06 
			 2003–04 1.14 
		
	
	(25) Outturn

Inland Revenue

David Chaytor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will announce his decision on the future of the distraint work of the Inland Revenue; and if he will publish his assessment of the financial evaluation of the options.

Dawn Primarolo: This proposal is still under consideration and I am not at this stage able to say when an announcement will be made.

Output

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the change in the trend growth of output in the UK since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: The Government's latest assessment of trend output growth in the UK is outlined in Chapter 2 and Annex A of the 2001 "pre-Budget report" (Cm 5318).

Productivity Growth

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of (a) whole economy productivity growth and (b) manufacturing productivity growth for each year from 1975–76 to 2001–02; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: Estimates of output per job across the whole economy, and for the manufacturing sector since 1978–79, are published by the Office for National Statistics, and are accessible through the Library of the House.
	Recent trends in UK productivity growth are discussed in Annex A of the 2001 "pre-Budget report" (Cm 5318). Further information is contained in "The Economy: Supplementary Charts and Tables", published alongside this report.

Labour Productivity

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the change in the trend growth of labour productivity since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: The Government's latest assessment of trend labour productivity growth in the UK is outlined in Chapter 2 and Annex A of the 2001 pre-Budget report (Cm 5318).

Health Spending

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether it is his policy to raise taxes to increase NHS spending; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The Government have made their commitment to increasing resources over the next three years for the NHS, funded from general taxation and linked to reform. Decisions on taxation and spending will be taken in the Budget and Spending Review, respectively, next year.

Health Spending

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his pre-Budget Statement of 27 November 2001, Official Report, column 829, whether it is the policy of his Department to increase expenditure on the national health service to the average level of health spending in European Union countries; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Smith: I refer the hon. Member to the Prime Minister's statement on 28 November 2001, Official Report, column 963.

Debt Interest

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of debt interest payments by central Government in (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03; what effect there has been on these forecasts as a consequence of the new forecasts for interest rate levels as set out in the November 2001 pre-Budget report; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Smith: The latest forecast for Central Government Gross Debt Interest payments, and the change since the Budget, for 2001–02 and 2002–03 can be found in the pre-Budget report in tables B13 and B14, pages 182 and 184, respectively. The changes in the forecast for 2001–02 and 2002–03 are due to lower assumed interest rates and the impact the lower rates have on the forecast for RPI affecting the accrued up-lift on index linked gilts.
	Interest rate assumptions used in public finance forecasts are audited by the National Audit Office. For the PBR the interest rate assumptions were based on market expectations as of 19 November 2001.

Council Tax Revenues

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the percentage increase in council tax revenues between 2001–02 and 2002–03; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Smith: We make projections of council tax receipts as part of our wider projections of the public finances. Table B11 of the pre-Budget report shows projections for council tax receipts in Great Britain for 2001–02 and 2002–03.
	Decisions on council tax are for local authorities to take, after consulting with their local electorate and taxpayers.

Tax Credit

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is of total expenditure on all forms of tax credit in each year from 1998–99 to 2004–05; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: Figures and projections from 2000–01 to 2002–03 appear at Table B11 of the pre- Budget report. Equivalent figures for the earlier years appear in the Financial Statement and Budget reports issued at March 2000 and March 2001.

Employees

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what estimates he has made of financial sector employee bonuses for upper rate taxpayers for each of the years (a) 1998–99, (b) 1999–2000, (c) 2000–01 and (d) 2001–02; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what estimates he has made of the change in bonus payments made to financial company employees between 2000–01 and 2001–02; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: I regret that estimates are not available. I refer the hon. Member to paragraph B41 of the 2001 pre-Budget report.

Receipts

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he has taken to request that the National Audit Office should carry out an audit of all assumptions underlying the changes in the current receipts set out in Table B8, p.174 of the pre-Budget report between the Budget and the pre-Budget report; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Smith: The assumptions underlying the public finance projections which are audited by the National Audit Office under the three-year rolling review, established in Budget 2000, are set out in Box B1 on page 169 of the pre-Budget report.

Equity Prices

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the effects on the public finances of a 10 per cent. increase in UK equity prices; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Smith: The effect of changes in equity prices on the public finances is discussed in paragraph B35 of the pre-Budget report.

Working Families Tax Credit

Patrick McLoughlin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will reply to the letter of 8 November from the hon. Member for West Derbyshire on the working families tax credit.

Dawn Primarolo: The letter was not received and a copy has been requested.

Department of Health (Underspend)

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the reasons for the underspend in the Department of Health in the last financial year.

Andrew Smith: The underspend by the Department of Health last year was approximately 1.5 per cent. of their total budget. Over one third of this was a planned contingency to meet costs falling in the following year.

Renewco

Chris Grayling: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Office for National Statistics determined that Renewco would be classified as the public sector.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from John Kidgell to Mr. Chris Grayling, dated December 2001
	The National Statistician has been asked to answer your question about the classification of Renewco. I am replying in his absence. (20417)
	I have already given details of the advice given and the dates in my reply to Theresa May MP, which appeared in Hansard.

Unitary Authorities (Populations)

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many unitary authorities have a population of less than 100,000; and if he will list them together with their respective populations.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Andrew Mitchell, dated December 2001
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question concerning the number of unitary authorities which have a population of less than 100,000 persons. (20543)
	The table below shows the unitary authorities with fewer than 100,000 residents at mid-2000, together with their estimated populations.
	
		Unitary authorities with fewer than 100,000 residents in mid-2000 -- Thousand
		
			 Unitary authority Number of residents 
		
		
			 Rutland 37.8 
			 Merthyr Tydfil 55.8 
			 Isle of Anglesey 64.8 
			 Blaenau Gwent 71.2 
			 Ceredigion 72.2 
			 Monmouthshire 87.4 
			 Torfaen 89.8 
			 Denbighshire 91.8 
			 Hartlepool 92.3 
		
	
	Source:
	Office for National Statistics, Crown Copyright 2001

Departmental Expenditure Limit

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reasons his Budget 2001 estimate of total departmental expenditure limit spending was £3.4 billion higher in 2000–01 than the estimate given in his November pre-Budget report; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Smith: Because the pre-Budget report takes account of and revises (in Table B16) the outturn figures published in the Public Expenditure Outturn White Paper (Cm 5243) in July.

Departmental Expenditure Limit

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out his latest estimates of the underspends by each departmental expenditure limit for 2000–01; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Smith: Provisional outturn against final plans and original limits in departmental expenditure limits on both a cash and accruals basis are given in Tables 1 and 1a of the July Public Expenditure Outturn White Paper (Cm 5243). The outturn has been revised and republished Department by Department in Table B16 of the 2001 pre-Budget report (Cm 5318).

Stamp Duty

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the forecast cost over the (a) current and (b) next three financial years of the stamp duty exemption for SIPs.

Dawn Primarolo: Estimates of the cost of the exemption for the share incentive plan to 2003-04 were given in the Budget 2001 report.